


Life Cycles

by Gummy



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, This hurt me to write tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5310551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gummy/pseuds/Gummy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even after so many years, those silly little middle school crushes never really go away do they?<br/>Change can be good, or it can be heartbreakingly tragic. </p><p>Based on a tumblr AU about childhood friends reuniting and finding out the other got super hot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Silly Little Crushes

**Author's Note:**

> So bigspoonkorra had this great AU post found here: http://bigspoonkorra.tumblr.com/post/132850926579/im-dying-for-a-modern-au-where-korra-and-asami
> 
> And I had to write it. And make it terribly heartbreaking so enjoy the first chapter :)

Asami stared into the mirror, her face contorted into a look of utter disgust. She leaned closer, inspecting the new breakout that appeared on her chin startlingly fast, and let out a groan of frustration. She grabbed the acne medicine box from the cabinet and scanned over the label for the hundredth time. It promised “real results” within 48 hours of the first use. It had been like, a week which was close to 100 years in the 14 year old time frame. Asami trudged out of the bathroom and into the kitchen where her father sat reading the newspaper and sipping coffee from his #1 Dad mug.

“Dad, this stuff isn’t working.” Asami said, pointing to her chin, “I broke out _again_.”

“You’ve got to be patient,” Hiroshi said, lowering his paper, “Medicine doesn’t work overnight, Asami.”

“The box says 48 hours,” she pressed, “It’s been over a week and I still look like a pizza.”

“Now it’s nothing to be ashamed of you know,” Hiroshi said wisely, “All kids your age struggle with their skin at one time or another. Why, I had the same problem you did in middle school.”

“This like a whole other level of struggle,” Asami said in exasperation, “I’m going to need a skin transplant to fix this!”

“Don’t be so dramatic dear,” Hiroshi said distantly, his attention wavering back to the paper, “Go get ready for school or you’ll miss the bus.” Asami scowled and turned back towards her room, self consciously running her fingers over her chin. In truth she wasn’t worried about the actual health of her skin, she just wanted the kids at school to stop asking what size drink she wanted with her pizza-face. Asami pulled on her jeans and shirt in vain, hoping that nobody would pay attention to her today and start another round of pizza jokes.

She, somewhat sulkily, hugged her father goodbye and dragged herself out to the awaiting school bus which was mercifully mostly empty. She made a beeline for the back and tucked away into the very left corner, pointing her face to the window. As the bus picked up more of Asami’s classmates, she noticed that she was no longer alone in the back. A girl had sat in the row across from her, also staring almost wistfully out the window. The girl didn’t look familiar, nor did she make any attempt to interact with any of the students around her. The first thing Asami admired was her beautiful skin which didn’t look like the typical Republic City skin tone. It was also free of any kind of bump or blemish. Asami felt a small hint of envy.

“Hey! New kid!”

The voice jerked Asami out of her thoughts as she turned to see one of her classmates leaning over his seat. He tapped the mysterious girl on the head, trying to get her attention.

“I’m talking to you!” He pressed, jamming his finger deeper into her skull. The girl snapped up, grabbing his hand and bending it sideways.

“That hurts,” She growled as the boy whimpered in pain, “What do you want?”

“Nothing nothing!” He said frantically, “I-I just wanted to see who you were! Kids were talking about you!” The girl released his hand and turned back towards the window, effectively cutting off contact again. Asami glanced back towards the front of the bus where the boy was holding his wrist and muttering darkly among his friends.

_Well she certainly wasted no time establishing a reputation_ , Asami thought to herself, feeling slightly awed at the stranger’s guts. She didn't look like the violent, royally pissed off type, she just seemed… really unhappy.

The bus wheezed up to the last stop before making the final trek up towards the school building. All of the seats were pretty much full and loud chatter echoed off of the windows.

“Well good morning pizza face.” A voice sneered. A large, freckly boy with a terrible bowl cut was turned around in his seat, a smirk stretched out on his cracked lips.

“Morning, Rock,” Asami said dully, “You seem awful chipper today.”

Rock tilted his head.

“It means happy,” she explained impatiently, “Or to be in a good mood.”

“I don't need an English lesson.” Rock said, “I just wanted to ask-”

“Yeah yeah, what size drink do I want with my pizza face. Got it. You can shove off now.” Asami said dismissively.

“Who do you think you are?” Rock said angrily, a vein starting to pop out from his neck.

“Asami Sato I think. Or that's what it was last time I checked my birth certificate.”

“You're really asking for it!” Rock snarled.

“I don’t remember asking for anything,” Asami shrugged, “Do I need to speak slower for you?”

Asami wasn't sure why, but it felt good to infuriate a big, stupid brute like Rock. She didn’t get many opportunities to release her anger like this and it was nice to be on the other end of the bullying spectrum for once. But as Rock cocked back his fist, she realized she wouldn't be feeling good for long. Asami squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the pain. But none came. She peaked one eye open to see Rock struggling to pull his fist out of the mysterious new girl’s grip. Her arm shook against his force but she stepped forward, sinking a knee into his gut and knocking him off balance.

“She said shove off,” The girl growled. Rock was bent over, clutching his stomach and gagging. The girl bent down, levelling her face with his, “Now I’m telling _you_ to _fuck_ off.”

He nodded frantically and scuttled back down to his seat. He didn’t turn around again. Asami turned to enthusiastically thank the girl, but found her staring back out the window as if nothing had ever happened.

\---

There was an empty seat next to her desk. But it was nothing new. Asami was honestly more distracted by the drawing of a pizza on her desk. She never really understood why people associated pizza with acne so much. It was getting really unoriginal (and quite frustrating) in her opinion. She sat down and started to attack the drawing with her eraser but some genius had decided to use marker so she only ended up smearing it.

“Now class,” The teacher said, gathering the attention of her pupils, “I want you all to give a warm welcome to our new student today!” She gestured to the mysterious girl from the bus who looked slightly embarrassed as she stared at her shoes. There was a lukewarm greeting that died off as soon as it started.

“Go take a seat in that empty desk, Korra.” The teacher said, “Make sure you introduce yourself to your classmates while I take role.” Korra nodded and kept her head ducked down as she made her way towards the empty seat next to Asami. She tossed her bag down and slid into the wooden chair.

Asami wanted so badly to greet the girl and say thanks for saving her from a bloody nose but she wasn’t sure Korra would want to even talk. She seemed...too cool for someone like Asami to befriend.

“You’re that girl from the bus.”

Asami looked up and saw Korra looking at her expectantly, almost curiously.

“Me?” Asami looked around, expecting Korra to be talking to someone else.

“Yeah, you.”

“I sat next to you. And then you saved my ass from Rock.” Asami said, “So yeah, the very thankful girl from the bus. I’m Asami. Or, pizza-face I guess.”

“Why do they call you that?” Korra asked, tipping an eyebrow.

“You’ve never heard that expression before?” Asami said, baffled.

“Um, no? Do you, like, eat a lot of pizza or something?”

Asami couldn’t help but let out a laugh/snort at Korra’s innocence. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

“I’m sorry!” She said between giggles, “No, pizza face is what they call people with bad skin problems.”

“That would make sense why I’ve never heard of that.” Korra said, finally cracking a grin, “Most people from the Water Tribe don’t get zits or stuff like that.”

“Consider yourself lucky then,” Asami frowned, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her chin.

“Hey don’t worry about it,” Korra said, nudging Asami with her arm, “That stuff usually clears up during high school right?”

“Beats me,” Asami shrugged, feeling a bit better, “I’ve tried a bunch of different medications. Nothing really works.”

“It’s not like you can help it,” Korra said, “It’s so rude for people to make fun of that.”

“Trust me, it’s nothing new.” Asami said with a grimace, “So, what brings you to Republic City?” To Asami’s surprise, Korra’s face darkened. She crossed her arms and slunk down in her seat.

“My dad is some sort of important political leader,” She explained, “And we had to pack up everything and move here because the president needed him for something.”

“I get the vibe that you didn’t want to move.” Asami said sympathetically, wanting to reach out and pat Korra’s shoulder but not quite feeling confident enough to do so.

“I had to leave everyone behind,” Korra burst out angrily, “My friends, my school, my culture. And it’s _so_ hot here!”

“Yeah, big changes suck ass.” Asami said, “And people here haven’t exactly been welcoming have they?”

“You’ve been nice to me.” Korra noted, her anger fading, “So maybe not everyone in this town is rotten.”

“Well I wouldn’t say that.” Asami grinned, “But I’d gladly be your first friend if that’s okay?” Her heart pattered against her chest as Korra broke out into a wide smile.

“I would be happy to aquire a friend such as yourself.” Korra said, holding out her hand. Asami took it tentatively and shook, feeling a bubble of excitement explode in her chest.  

\---

“This is so lame.” Korra whined as she sat upside down on Asami’s fancy couch, arm buried in a bowl of popcorn.

“It’s not lame!” Asami said, looking extremely offended, “Just, sorta outdated.”

“It’s like from the 90’s or something!” Korra said, squinting at the large TV screen. She wasn’t sure why Asami liked Popular Mechanics for Kids so much. It had really cheesy graphics and the kids were pretty terrible actors with bad haircuts.

“It happens to be very informative.” Asami said knowledgeably, “And you will no longer be welcome in my home if you continue to slander it.”

“Okay okay, it’s not _that_ bad.” Korra said, “But I know you would never ban me from your house. You love me too much.”

“That’s debateable.” Asami said, but she had a wide smile on her face, “I think my dad is the one that likes you too much.”

“Even though I pretty much come over and clean out your fridge.” Korra said, stuffing a large handful of popcorn in her mouth to emphasize the point. Asami rolled her eyes and turned her attention back towards the TV where the bad haircut kids were talking about firefighters. Korra’s eyes lingered, sweeping over Asami’s face. She looked completely absorbed in the show as always, even jotting down notes in a tiny spiral notebook every time she learned something she didn’t know before. In the time that they’d known each other, Asami had managed to fill about five of those notebooks.

“Wow…” Asami muttered, eyes sweeping from the TV to the notebook. Her pencil was moving a million miles an hour over the lines as she rapidly copied down information. Korra felt an odd flutter in her chest as she watched Asami, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated.

“Whatcha writin?” Korra asked, rolling over and tucking her head on Asami’s shoulder.

“Some notes about the properties of fire.” Asami said excitedly, “Like the thermal inertia and stuff.”

“Mhmm mhmm,” Korra hummed, “I have no idea what that means.”

“Um, I’m not really sure how to explain it.” Asami said apologetically, patting the side of Korra’s face which sent her heart fluttering again.

“No worries. Come on let’s do something!” Korra said, jumping up off the couch, “Let’s go ride bikes or climb some trees!”

“You mean the one tree in our front yard?” Asami said, gently shutting her notebook.

“Yes, that _one_ tree!” Korra said excitedly, tugging at Asami’s arm, “I’m going to climb it.”

She dragged Asami off the couch and through the front door into the sunlight, stopping at the front of the lone tree in the front yard. Korra squinted up towards the top, analyzing the branches.

“Okay, watch this.” Korra said, adjusting the waistband of her shorts and pulling her sleeves up to her shoulders. She swung her arms around the tree trunk and dug her shoes against the bark, shimmying up towards the lowest branch.

“Be careful!” Asami called from the ground, hands clasped worryingly at her throat. Korra smirked to herself as she pulled up to the next branch, putting on an extra display of her arms. She hung from a thin branch by one arm, waving down to Asami as she swung back and forth.

“That’s dangerous!” Asami scolded loudly, gasping when Korra jumped up to the next tier of branches.

“You’re just a weenie!” Korra yelled back, laughing madly and swinging upside down by her legs. Okay she was showing off. But just a little bit.

“Korra stop!” Asami said frightfully, “You’re going to break your neck!”

“Okay okay I’m done.” Korra said, starting her descent down the tree, “You can stop stressing Sato.” She hopped down, landing easily on her feet, and dusted off the front of her shorts.

“You have way too much energy.” Asami groaned, rubbing her forehead wearily.

“It’s because I eat so much. Food equals energy.” Korra said happily, “Speaking of, I have a bowl of popcorn to finish.”

“Well don’t let me keep you.” Asami said, opening the front door and leading Korra inside.  

\---

“Wow.” Asami breathed as she held the slightly crumpled letter in her sweaty hands.

_“Dear Ms. Sato,_

_Your application to the Ba Sing Se School of Engineering has been accepted. Please have your materials ready by June 3rd and please remember….”_

__

She lowered the paper and stared out of the window for a few quiet moments. Excitement was rushing through her body and honestly she felt like screaming happily into the silence of her home.

But.

She glanced at her phone. Korra’s text still displayed on the home screen.

_“Heyyy my dad just dropped off my paperwork for Republic City High! Make sure you get yours in soon you dork!”_

A stab of guilt flashed through her chest. Asami knew she was meant for better things than the local high school. She wanted real hands on engineering practice. She wanted to be the next CEO of Future Industries. She _craved_ it. So she applied to the best engineering prep school in the country even it took her to places that were far away and unfamiliar. Asami closed her eyes and folded her hands in front of her mouth, trying to still her rushing thoughts and the heavy guilt in her stomach. Korra would understand. Korra always understood. Asami had desires and aspirations that needed special skills and care to develop. Korra _had_ to understand that.

Her hand hovered over the virtual keyboard, hesitant to type.

_Can you meet me at the dock? I wanna tell you something._

She didn’t bother waiting for a response. She knew Korra would be there.

Asami grabbed her keys and walked out into the blaring summer heat. It was Korra’s favorite thing to complain about as she fanned herself and used the bottom of her shirt to wipe the sweat from her face. Asami blushed as she thought about how much she stared when Korra did this. Even at fourteen, she had a nice muscle build going.

She arrived at the park, finding it completely deserted. It was the end of the school year so most kids were shut up in their homes, hardcore studying in the comfort of their A/Cs. Asami took a walk down to the dock, sitting on the edge and dipping her toes into the cool water of Yue Bay. It felt nice and helped to relax some of Asami’s very tense muscles. She lost herself for a while as she waited on Korra to arrive.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and shoved her forward. Asami almost let out a cry in shock before the same hand roughly yanked her back onto the dock.

“Saved your life!” Korra yelled, grabbing her stomach in laughter, “You owe me now Sato.”

“I hate when you do that.” Asami said weakly, but couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

“So, what’s the news?” Korra said, plopping down next to Asami and dropping her feet into the water, “Plans for future high school shenanigans?”

“Well not exactly-”

“We’re gonna make the best outta high school lemme tell ya!” Korra said, slinging an arm around Asami’s shoulders, “Two pals taking on the perilous journey into adulthood! I can hardly wait!”

“About that-”

“I can already see our pictures in the yearbooks!”

“Korra-”

“-Practically gods!”

“I’m trying-”

“You’ll get best smile of course.”

“Dammit Korra! I’m trying to tell you something!” Asami burst out more angrily than she meant to. Korra’s mouth clicked shut and she looked almost hurt.

“Sorry.” She mumbled, tucking her hands under her legs. Asami sighed and wrapped a hand around Korra’s shoulders this time.

“Don’t be sorry.” Asami sighed, “I just...There’s something I have to tell you.” Korra looked up attentively but didn’t interrupt. Asami reached into her pocket and wordlessly handed Korra her acceptance letter into the engineering school. Korra’s eyes swept over the words several times, eyebrows bending upwards even more each time she reread it.

“But…” She finally managed, “But we were supposed to be together forever.” Her voice sounded strangled with disappointment.

“I have to do this.” Asami whispered, “If I’m going to attain any of my dreams, I have to work for them.”

Korra still said nothing.

“I can’t expect to become the next CEO of Future Industries by taking a shop class at the local high school.” She continued tenderly, “Big things require big changes.”

“Then I’ll go with you!” Korra said suddenly, looking extremely determined, “I’ll send in an application and get in and then we can be engineering pals together!” Asami exhaled deeply. It pained her to see Korra’s dedication to their friendship.

“Korra please.” She said quietly, “We have to be realistic here.” Korra’s face dropped and her shoulders slumped.

“I’d be a lousy engineer.” Korra said with a weak attempt at a grin.

“I’m not leaving forever!” Asami said in a falsely cheery voice, “We’ll have Skype and texting and all that other stuff you know.”

“And you’ll be back for the summer right?” Korra asked.

This time, Asami’s face dropped.

“Well, not exactly.” She said, “I’ll have to take summer courses so I can catch up to the program.” Korra slumped even lower.

“When do you leave?” Korra said after a moment, still looking out over the water. Her voice sounded croaky.

“June 3rd.” Asami answered, her own voice sounding hoarse.

“Three weeks.”

“Yeah.”

Silence fell between them. Neither being able to think of some kind of comforting words.

“Y’know when I moved here last year, I didn’t think I would make a single friend.” Korra said, eyes still burning into her watery reflection, “But then I found you and it’s almost like the pain of losing my old life completely disappeared.”

“Korra…”

“I stopped missing my old friends and my home because I found a new one. Didn’t matter where we were, as long as you were with me I always felt at home.” Tears were freely spilling down Korra’s face, “Now that old pain is coming back.”

Asami reached out and pulled Korra into her arms, tears falling down her own face. She held Korra tightly, never wanting to let go.

“You are my home too.” She whispered into Korra’s hair. Korra lifted her head. Their faces were so close and eyes intense with emotion as they stared at each other. Such a strange force came over Asami as she looked into Korra’s deep blue pupils.

_Lean forward._

_Kiss her._

But she didn’t.

They sat until the sun went down.

**  
**


	2. LDR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed some of you guys were worried about the tragic look of this story but I promise it will be happy (for the most part). So don't lose faith!

“-But yeah I’m taking like five engineering classes and they’re so immersive!” Asami said excitedly, voice filled with passion, “All my teachers are already impressed by my work.”

Korra was trying really hard to look excited as she watched Asami in the tiny Skype window. She had a wide, fake smile plastered on her face as Asami spoke. But, for selfish reasons, she didn’t feel the least bit pleased at Asami’s immediate success at Ba Sing Se School of Engineering. As much as it made her feel ashamed, she had secretly hoped that Asami would bomb her classes and come back home. She shuddered just thinking those awful thoughts.

Honestly she did feel happy that Asami was finally getting what she wanted since she lived and breathed mechanic work. And now she was buried in it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It made Korra feel so unextraordinay.  

She went to the local high school, took regular classes, and made regular grades. She could always tell that Asami was naturally smart by the way she just _knew_ things and Korra never would've believed that Asami had been held back a year in school when she was very young.

Just like she knew the inner workings of machines, Asami knew how Korra ticked. She knew how Korra learned best and how to make sure she stayed on track, she knew what Korra liked, loved and _hated_. But since Asami wasn't there, Korra had slipped back into the range of the average student making average grades.

“Korra?”

She snapped her eyes back to the computer screen.

“Sorry I spaced out.”

“I asked how your classes were going.” Asami repeated.

“Oh you know. Average.” Korra said distantly, feeling a weight in her chest from all the depressing thoughts that just flashed through her head.

“You know I can tutor you if you need me to.” Asami said almost apologetically.

“Nah I've got it.” Korra said, “I'm too old for hand holding.”

“Just make sure you let me know if you start to struggle.”

“Yeah.” Korra trailed off and they stared at each other for a few awkward seconds.

“Well I've got to get going.” Asami finally said, “Big projects due next week.”

“Me too.” Korra mumbled, “I've got soccer practice in 20 minutes.”

“Go knock em’ out!’ Asami called before waving and exiting the video call. Korra stared at the blank computer desktop, feeling extremely dejected. She used to be able to sit with Asami and talk for hours about nonsense. That video call barely lasted half an hour.

They had been decreasing slowly in length over the last couple of weeks as Asami became busy in her engineering and Korra became immersed in her soccer. It was one of the only things that kept her mind off of the lonely pit that had burrowed itself in her stomach.

“Korra, are you ready for practice?” Her mom poked her head through the door, “Oh are you finished talking to Asami already?”

“She had stuff to do.” Korra answered as she shoved her cleats on, “Okay I'm ready.”

///

Korra loved soccer. She loved it more than anything. At first she only signed up to take out her frustration with Asami’s absence but then she discovered that she was actually quite good at it. Her coaches would murmur to each other along the sidelines as they watched her blow past her other teammates, impressed looks on all of their faces. Soon Korra was transferred to the advanced teams, then she made first string and excelled even more among kids that were older than she was. When high school started, she immediately tried out for the team and had no problem making varsity. Which was very impressive for a freshman. By the time she was a junior, colleges from every country were begging desperately for her commitment to their soccer team.

It was like a dream come true. Korra had never felt so proud of herself in all of the years she had lived in Republic City. Except maybe for a few times that Asami had complimented her on something, but that was the past. And that’s where she was going to stay.

With all the soccer training, Korra barely had time to talk to Asami, much less spend time with her. Not that she would’ve even gotten the chance to do so. Asami was a busy woman and lived more than 6 hours away. Sure, it was hard at first as Korra often missed her best friend terribly, but through her success in sports, she was able to move on and forget about those who forgot about her. Besides, she was able to become close friends with some of her teammates who weren’t about to drop everything and leave. That was one comfort.  

Korra committed to Republic City University after much speculation. Not only were many of her teammates going to play there, she finally felt like Republic City was her home instead of a torture chamber. Going anywhere else would mean starting all over again and there was no way in hell she would ever consider doing that.

Freshman year of college, Korra’s soccer career was over.    

///

Engineering school was like a bubble. An immaculate, utopian bubble where nothing bad could happen to you. Well, not exactly but Asami and her classmates were constantly up to their ears in papers, projects, and blueprints so they never really kept up with the news. They pretty much didn’t have time for anything other than their work. Most of the time, they didn't hear about the violence, the crime, the shootings or anything of that nature unless it was something particularly terrible. And that was not often. Besides, why bother watching the news when you could be recalibrating the brakes on a 1980’s jet ski?

It’s not that Asami didn’t care about what was going on in the world around her, she just didn’t have the time to care. She mostly heard about national tragedies through whispers in the hallway or a glance at the bold headlines on somebody’s laptop. Asami hated distractions and things that clouded her mind. If there was one thing an engineer needed to be, it was alert at all possible times. One simple miscalculation could throw off an entire project and the professors were vultures about mistakes.

But Asami was absolutely having the time of her life. She had never met so many people similar to herself. It was one of the first times that she had felt like she completely belonged in a community. Though, she she felt herself starting to forget Korra and it felt like someone had stabbed her in the chest every time she thought about it. She didn’t mean to forget of course. Sometimes her work just became so hectic that she lost track of everything only to surface and find that she hadn’t spoken to Korra in over two weeks.

At the same time, she noticed that Korra wasn’t always available either. Sometimes when she called, Korra’s voice was rushed and hasty and the conversation only lasted a few minutes. Sometimes the phone went straight to voicemail. Asami understood that Korra had discovered a joy for soccer and spent a good amount of time playing and practicing.

Soon, contact between them barely existed.

By Asami’s sophomore year, there was only the occasional passing greeting and a “happy birthday” between her and Korra. The talks were short and often ended abruptly as each of them became more and more absorbed in their respective hobbies. Asami wasn’t shocked to find out that many of her classmates had similar dreams to her. What _did_ shock her was that some of them also strived to become Future Industries next CEO. Their competition had caused a tense rift between Asami and some of her classmates since she so happened to be the daughter of Hiroshi Sato, AKA: most likely to get the job.   

By senior year, Asami was graduating with honors and Korra was almost like a distant memory.

* * *

 

   

 _Three Years Later_    

* * *

 

“Dad!” Asami ran through the airport and jumped into her father’s arms. He laughed and hugged her tightly back, ignoring some stares that pointed their way.

“It’s so good to see you.” He said, putting Asami down and holding her at arm’s length, “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.”

“I’m taller than you now old man.” Asami said smugly, “I told you it would happen.” Hiroshi looked surprised for a moment before smiling again.

“I guess I always knew that would happen some day.” He said in mock defeat, “I’m more impressed with how much your face has cleared up.”

“ _Dad_!” Asami hissed, “Don’t announce it to the entire airport!” But she secretly felt pleased. Ba Sing Se had some of the best natural medicines in the world and it only took two weeks for all of her skin problems to clear up completely. They hadn’t been a problem since.

“Well let’s not just stand here like a couple of weirdos.” Hiroshi said, grabbing Asami’s bag, “Let’s get you home.”

They exited through the front doors and out into the summer heat. Asami didn’t feel affected by it all all. Ba Sing Se was one of the hottest cities in the country so this Republic City heat was puny compared to what she had to deal with. For some reason, complaints about the heat jogged some deep part of Asami’s brain, as if it was trying very hard to remember something.

“So what have I missed?” She asked as they settled into the car.

“Well the company is booming.” Hiroshi said proudly as they pulled out of the parking lot, “We’re selling more cars than ever before.”

“That’s great news Dad.” Asami said, “I can’t wait to get started on my internship.”

“Everyone is excited to see you back in the city again,”

“When can I get started? Tomorrow?” Asami asked enthusiastically, already imagining all of the tools that would be available to her. She could build _whatever she wanted_. It was a frightening amount of freedom.

“Whoa now,” Hiroshi chuckled, “I appreciate the excitement but you just got back.”

“But I’ve learned so much,” Asami pressed, “I want to put it to the test as soon as I can.”

“Well relax, your position isn’t going anywhere. Take a couple days off.”

Asami reluctantly agreed to her father’s wishes, not even knowing what she could do with her time. It’s not like she even knew anybody in Republic City. All of her friends at Ba Sing Se Tech had stayed in the Earth Kingdom to do their internships, leaving her to travel back to the Republic by herself.  

After Asami had unpacked her bags and caught up with her father over a cup of tea, she decided to walk around the old neighborhood to see if anything had changed. Things looked more or less the same, though some of the kids that used to play in the street were now sullen-looking teenagers and the nice old man that used have pet turtle-ducks had apparently died a couple years back. The park was completely different. The old, rickety wooden playset was now shiny metal. None of the swings were broken and there was even a pond.

The bus stop looked the same, if not a little worn down. Asami smiled faintly to herself as she remembered sitting on that bench day after day, face hidden behind a book. She remembered that bus ride that changed everything. Her confidence, her demeanor.

_Korra_.

Asami felt a deep pang in her stomach. Guilt maybe? She hadn’t heard from Korra in years. Apparently she had gotten a scholarship for soccer and immediately started blasting all of the old college records through the roof.

 _Good for you, ya goofball_ , Asami thought fondly, remembering Korra’s intense need for constant movement. She doubted that Korra even still lived in Republic City since she had always expressed a burning desire to return home. In fact, Asami had no clue what Korra had been doing since they last spoke over five years ago.

 _Has it really been that long?_ Asami bit her lip, feeling that familiar sharp flash of guilt. She continued to stare at the bus stop, several memories resurfacing as if kicked up by being back in the city.

Well there was nothing that could be be done about it now.

Asami promptly turned and walked away from the bus stop, figuring she had seen enough changes for the moment. After all, sometimes memories can hurt.

* * *

 

  _Fuck this job_ , Korra thought bitterly as she dumped a truckload of coffee beans into the industrial sized grinder.

_Fuck this I’m quitting. I mean it!_

She covered her ears as the beans were spliced into smithereens, perfect for making coffee for those awful, self-absorbed customers.

 _Just kidding I have bills to pay_.

She grabbed the freshly ground beans and carried the container out to the main area of the shop, throwing them next to the coffee machine.

“Hey chill! Those beans never hurt you!” Bolin cried, snatching the aluminum container into his beefy arms.

“Yes they did.” Korra said matter-of-factly, “I dropped the bag on my foot last week when we were hauling them in from the truck.”

“Okay that’s fair,” Bolin sighed, “I know how you are about your feet and such.” He tossed the container back onto the counter.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate this job?” Korra asked, glaring out towards the customers.

“Every day.” Bolin said as he filled a styrofoam cup with black coffee for a middle-aged man, “Though you haven’t mentioned it in the last hour so I’d say that’s fair game.”

“Yeah well, spoiler alert, I hate it.” Korra grumbled, “Nothing exciting ever happens!”

“I mean that guy from earlier had pink hair,” Bolin said, “That was kind of interesting.”

“Yeah and then he managed to convince you that it was natural.” Korra said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey! He was very convincing!” Bolin argued, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“You could see his roots.” Korra pointed out, a grin forming on her mouth, “They were dark brown.”

“Well _maybe_ I like to believe in people,” Bolin said with a scowl, “Y’know, take their word for it and _assume_ they’re not lying to your face!”

“Gotta use that noggin, Bo.” Korra said, knocking her knuckles playfully against his forehead.

“It just looked so _real_.” Bolin muttered to himself as he shuffled to the backroom for more ice. Korra’s mood immediately darkened again. It was not unusual for her to put on a cheerful front, mostly for Bolin’s sake, as she didn’t want him worrying about her all the time. She got enough of that at home as it was and Korra _hated_ when people fussed over her.

But the truth was, her legs were so sore that they were absolutely killing her and it made her crankier than usual. She was honestly surprised that she hadn’t been fired yet for constantly snapping at customers.

“Hi, welcome to Medium Drip what can I get you today?” She asked the customer in line, plastering her infamous fake smile back on.

“Uh yea I’ll have the Special, no cream, extra sugar.” The man said, not bothering to lift his eyes from his phone, “And make it snappy, I have a screenplay to write.”

“That’ll be $4.67.” Korra said, her annoyance almost leaking into her voice. _Stupid hipster_. The man tossed the money on the counter, stopping to drop a handful of pennies into the tip jar.

“I’ll be at the back booth,” He said, “Just bring it to me when it’s done. Like I said, make it snappy.” He turned on his heel and strode to the absolute farthest possible booth from the counter. Korra cursed under her breath as she started to make the drink, taking care to move as little as possible.

She slathered the top with whipped cream and stuck a cherry into the foam. Now came the hard part. Korra stepped out from behind the counter, walking slowly towards the back booths with both hands gripping the drink. It wasn’t much a of a challenge until she reached the small set of stairs that lead to the booth area.

 _You got this Korra_ , she thought, _it’s literally five steps. You got it._

She started up the first, then the second, then the third. As she pulled her weight onto the fourth step, Korra’s leg muscles began to spasm with pain, then they completely gave out. She fell roughly to the floor, drink flying from her hands and splattering all over the checkered tiles. Korra groaned and managed to pull herself into sitting position, leg still twitching slightly.

“Korra are you okay?” Bolin was by her side in a instant, grabbing her hand and helping her to her feet, “Why didn’t you let me take that order?”

“Because I’m not a fucking baby Bolin!” Korra snapped, “I can take a drink up a couple of goddamn stairs!” She looked at the complete mess the drink had made.

Okay maybe she couldn’t.

Bolin looked hurt and it immediately suffocated Korra’s anger.

“Look, Bo, I’m sorry.” She said, grabbing his shoulder, “I’m just in a mood and then the stairs.”

“No hard feelings,” He shrugged, smiling face back in an instant, “I get it.”

“If you two are done over there, I’m gonna need a new drink.” The customer called from his seat, “Can you like, not let her carry it this time?”

“Coming right up.” Bolin said half-heartedly, “Man, what a jerk.”

“Tell me about it.” Korra grunted as they walked back behind the counter, “But what can you do?” She dropped roughly into a plastic chair and rubbed her hands up and down her aching thigh, gritting her teeth as the pain shot down into her knee.

As soon as she was comfortable, of course a customer had to walk in.

“Be right with you!” Korra called, wanting nothing more than to nap for a thousand years. She got up and walked to the register, punching in her employee login into the computer.

“Welcome to the Medium Drip, what can I get you?” She asked robotically, almost uttering a nasty word when her login rejected. The customer didn’t answer. Weirded out by the silence, Korra finally looked up and felt her brain fall into her stomach.                             

They stared, and said nothing.

There was nothing to say.

It had been too many years for that.

Finally:

“Korra?”

“Asami?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't help but put Korra in a coffee shop. Those AU's just get me.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr if you like lesbians and video games: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	3. Ba da da da da da

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't like how this chapter turned out. It's a little all over the place but that's okay.   
> I hope that you guys like it.

_Sweet Jesus, she gorgeous._

Asami had been frozen in the same position for several seconds, her hand halfway to her pocket to pull out her wallet. She wanted to stop gaping like an idiot, maybe say a couple suave words to deescalate the tension but for some reason, she couldn’t seem to break free of those invisible binds. She could only stare.

Korra looked so different. But at the same time, she looked like she hadn’t changed at all. Her hair was much shorter, cropped at the base of her face and pulled back partially into a black beanie. She was also noticeably more muscular than she had been all those years ago as Asami could see the sleeves of her button down shirt clinging tightly to her arms. It was probably all those years of hardcore soccer training and protein shakes. There was also a large coffee stain darkening the middle of her apron.

“You have something on your shirt.” Asami blurted stupidly, suddenly wanting to turn and sprint from the coffee shop, never to return.

“Oh, yeah I spilled someone’s drink on me.” Korra said, almost distantly as she continued to stare.

“I- I didn’t expect to see you here.” Asami finally said, regaining a microscopic amount of her composure back.

“Uh yeah,” Korra said awkwardly, “I work here now.” She pointed to her nametag.

“That’s strange because you always hated coffee.” Asami said eyes now pointed directly at the floor.

Someone coughed behind her. A small line had formed while they were having their staring contest.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Korra asked, grabbing a cup, “We’re kinda holding up the line.”

“Oh yes, of course,” Asami cleared her throat, “Surprise me I guess. I don’t know much about coffee.”

“No problem,” Korra smirked, “Just go sit over there and I’ll bring it out to you.” She pointed towards the seating section in the opposite direction of the stairs. Asami turned and followed Korra’s finger, sliding into the booth with her heart beating in her throat.

_Holy shit she got hot._

Asami felt heat creeping up her neck and tried to focus on getting her heart rate under control as Korra took care of the rest of the people in line, greeting them all with a dazzling smile.

It was all so surreal. Five years assuming that Korra fell off the face of the Earth and then _BAM_ there she was. Asami didn’t even hang around coffee shops that often. She was just bored and decided to check out some of the local recommendations, the Medium Drip being somewhere around the middle of the list. It had to be some strange twist of fate.

“Surprise.” Korra said, grinning as she sat on the opposite side of the booth. She was holding two steaming drinks, passing one over to Asami. She looked very pleased with herself. Asami raised the cup to her lips and took a tentative sip, knowing Korra wasn’t the best inventor when it came to food and drinks. She could still taste that ketchup-orange soda-milkshake Korra had “invented” all those years back.

“Wow this is amazing.” Asami said, pleasantly surprised, “What’s in it?”

“No idea,” Korra shrugged, “I was in a hurry so I just poured a bunch of different stuff together. I’m relieved that it worked out.”

“No orange soda in this one?” Asami said smugly. Korra looked confused for a second before letting out a laugh.

“Oh right!” She chuckled, “I forgot about that.”

“How could you forget?” Asami asked incredulously, “You nearly vomited in your sink after taking a sip.”

“The aftertaste was actually quite pleasant, though that might have been my tongue going numb.”

They both burst out laughing, making a few people glare over their laptops at the noise.

“Man it’s so good to see you again.” Asami said, still laughing and wiping a tear off of her cheek, “I can’t believe I ran into you here.”

“Yeah we got some stupid award for being a great coffee shop or something.” Korra said, “So we’ve been getting way more customers. It sucks.”

“Oh I bet,” Asami said, “How many people in here do you think are writing for their blogs right now?”

“Probably all of them,” Korra scowled at a man with pink hair who was sitting on the other side of the shop, “I get asked to read a manuscript or blog post at least twice a day.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that problem.”

“Well consider yourself lucky,” Korra grumbled, “I resent that good review in the paper.”   

“Korra!” a muscly guy from behind the counter called frantically, “I could use your help over heeere!”

An even longer line had formed out the door while they had been talking. Korra sighed and took another sip of her drink, looking almost pained.

“I hate this job.” She muttered with a grimace, “Guess we’ll have to catch up another time. And I’m going to want to know every little detail of your life that I missed out on.”

“Likewise,” Asami said, feeling somewhat disappointed at the interruption, “How about tonight? After you get off work?” Korra brightened immediately.

“Sounds great,” She said, grabbing her drink, “Give me your phone and I’ll punch in my digits.” Asami nodded and handed Korra her phone, heart hammering wildly again.

“Call me,” Korra winked, before heading back towards the counter.

Asami was feeling somewhat dazed but the fact that Korra was walking with a slight limp did not escape her eye. It deeply confused her. Wasn’t Korra a rising soccer star? Soccer players aren’t supposed to walk with a limp. Maybe she got hurt during one of the games? Asami pursed her lips but figured that she would ask Korra about it when they met later. The thought made her chest squeeze.

///

Korra gave a little wave to Asami as she watched her exit the coffee shop. Her brain was going absolutely haywire as she robotically took the orders of her customers. Wow wow _wow_ Asami was so beautiful. Not that she hadn’t always been lovely to look at but...well, puberty certainly treated her _very_ well. Her hair had grown out beautifully and she had become an absolute master at putting on makeup. But the thing Korra noticed first was that her skin was flawless, as if nothing had ever been there in the first place. She grinned to herself as she thought of Asami’s number in her phone and how she would be seeing her again in mere hours.

“Ma’am?” One of the customers said, making Korra drift back into reality. She let out a fierce yelp as boiling coffee overflowed from the cup and onto her hand.

“I’m sorry!” She said, quickly running her hand under cold water, “Lost myself there.”

“You seem awfully distracted.” Bolin said, refilling the cup with coffee and handing it to the woman.

“Yeah sorry,” Korra sighed, dropping into her chair, “Crazy day.”

“So who was that you were talking to?” Bolin asked as he stacked up a row of styrofoam cups.

“Ah, old friend from school,” Korra shrugged, “Been awhile.”

“She didn’t look familiar.” Bolin said, “Was she in our class or is she older?”

“She didn’t go to our school actually.” Korra rubbed her forehead where a headache was starting to kick up, “We were friends back in middle school.” Bolin gasped, making Korra look up.

“So that was _Asami?!_ ” He nearly screeched, hands covering his mouth, “The long lost girl you had a crush on?”

“Look Bo, don’t worry about it.” Korra said, trying to settle him down before he made a scene, “She was never into me like that. Hell, she’s probably got a nice, upperclass boyfriend by now.” It pained Korra to say those words out loud and she said them a bit more venomously than she meant to. That was how life worked. Girls like Asami didn’t date girls like Korra, especially after what happened to Korra’s soccer career. She had nothing to offer.

“I want to hear everything that happens when you guys hang out.” Bolin said seriously, “And I mean _everything_.”

“Yeah yeah whatever,” Korra rolled her eyes, getting up from the chair, “Anyway my shifts over. I’m outta here.”

“Going to chase after your girl?” Bolin smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No, I have an appointment with Katara.” Korra said. Bolin’s smile immediately vanished.

“Right, definitely more important.” He said, clearing his throat.

“She thinks she might be onto something.” Korra exhaled dejectedly, “But it’ll probably end up like last time. No results.”

“Hey don’t think like that.” Bolin said encouragingly, “She’s one of the best physical therapists in the city!”

“Yeah, I know.” Korra sighed, grabbing her bag, “Well I’m off. Say hey to Mako for me when you see him.”

“Will do!” Bolin saluted, “Good luck captain!”

Korra held up a hand as she walked through the glass doors. She didn’t like when Bolin called her that. It was an old habit of his back from their soccer days together since Korra was naturally the team captain. She knew he meant well by the nickname but it usually made her feel sick whenever she heard it. But whatever made Bolin happy was good enough for Korra.

Luckily, Katara’s medical practice was only a couple blocks down the street so she didn’t have a problem with walking. She could do relatively long walking distances without much of a problem as long as she took it easy and slow, two things that Korra hated. She took her time, admiring some of the new graffiti that had popped up on the buildings over the last couple weeks.

She paused in front of the small, round building at the end of the street, taking a deep breath and exhaling through her nose.

 _Relax_.

///

“ _Augh_!” Korra cried out fiercely, tightly grasping her left knee.

“You need to relax.” Katara said sharply, “This won’t work if you keep your muscles tense.”

“I’m _trying_.” Korra said through her teeth, feeling like she might pass out. She fell back against the padded table, a thin coat of cold sweat covering her body. Katara placed her hands on Korra’s thigh and began to knead it gently, moving back down towards the knee.

“Gahh!” Another bolt of terrible pain shot through Korra’s leg like a bullet, making her rip her leg out of Katara’s grasp.

“I was relaxed!” Korra shouted before Katara could scold her, “I was practically falling asleep.” She felt feverish and her entire body shook with tremors.

“I think that’s enough for today.” Katara sighed, rubbing her wrinkled hands together, “I don’t think this is going to work.” Disappointment flooded into Korra’s stomach. Another healing method gone straight into the trash without even a little hint at success. She sat on the table, holding her face in her hands and trying to hold back tears. But they came anyway.

“I know you’re frustrated.” Katara said gently, placing a hand on Korra’s shaking shoulder, “But I believe that we can work through it.”

“It’s been years.” Korra said bitterly through her fingers, “Nothing is going to work.”

“Well your situation is...unique.” Katara said, “Meaning that medical studies for this are going to be scarce for a while.”

“I just want my old self,” Korra said angrily, “I want to be able to walk up a couple of goddamn steps without making a fool out of myself.”

“And you will get there.” Katara urged, “Little by little, you will be back to your old self again.”

“Thanks for the pep talk,” Korra said hollowly, “But I should go.” She hopped off the table, wobbling a little on her feet.

“Korra wait,” Katara called. Korra stopped but didn’t turn around. “Maybe you should lay off those exercises I gave you. Take a little break.”

“Yeah.” Korra said, grabbing her bag off the desk and walking out the front door.

///

Asami was a nervous wreck. Clothes lay in piles all around her room and every type of makeup known to man was scattered across her vanity. Nothing seemed to be matching or look presentable. She wanted to dress casual but also didn’t want to look like she didn’t care. But what if she ended up _over_ dressing and seemed too fancy?

She let out a frustrated yell and began to dig around in her closet again. This was her chance to make things right again and she couldn’t even pick out a damn outfit. How was she supposed to mend a long-broken friendship?     

She didn't even know what Korra wanted to do. Would they go get food or just hang out at home, catching up over a couple beers.

_Maybe go for that kiss you missed out on all those years ago._

Asami shook her head, cheeks burning in shame. There’s no way that would happen. Last Asami had heard, Korra dated some dude on her soccer team named Mako. She didn’t know if that relationship was still going on but it still proved that Korra clearly liked the rough and tough type. And Asami felt like she just didn’t fit into that category.

“Asami,” Hiroshi called, peeking his head through the door, “What’s all that noise up here?”

“Just trying to find an outfit,” Asami grumbled, “I’m meeting up with an old friend tonight.”

“Oh? One of your school friends?”

“Well sort of.” Asami said, “Do you remember Korra?”

“Oh yes,” Hiroshi said fondly, “I always wondered what happened to that little ball of energy.”

“She works at the Medium Drip actually,” Asami said, “I just happened to wander into there today and there she was.”

“Funny how life works like that.” Hiroshi mused, “I mean, that’s similar to the way I met your mother.” Asami’s face went magenta as she caught on to what her father was implying.

“Dad!” She gasped, “It’s not like that!”

“Oh please,” Hiroshi said, “You guys were so obvious with your little crushes back then.”

“ _Dad_!”

“Okay okay I’m leaving.” Hiroshi said as Asami pushed him towards the door, “By the way, wear blue. It’s Korra’s favorite color.” Asami shut the door (making sure to lock it this time) and leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply. She then realized that her dad was right, Korra absolutely loved the color blue. She dove back towards her closet and dug around until she found the blue sweater that she almost never wore. She didn’t really like the way it looked but if Korra would like it…

Asami was in the process of yanking on her jeans when the sound of her ringtone startled her.

It was Korra.

“Hey I was just about to call you.” Asami greeted brightly.

 _“Asami, I’m really sorry.”_ Korra said on the other end of the line, voice sounding strained.

“Why? What’s up?” Asami asked, sinking onto her bed.

 _“I’m going to have to reschedule our meetup.”_ Korra said, letting out a sharp gasp at the end of her sentence.

“Are you okay?” Asami said, not liking the sound of Korra’s tone. It sounded like she was trying very hard not to scream.

 _“Yes, sorry I just- augh- something came up and I can’t make it.”_ Korra panted, muffled, staticky sounds in the background.

“It’s okay I understand,” Asami said, not understanding at all, “But you sound like you’re in pain. Are you sure everything's okay?”

 _“Just trust me.”_ Korra said reassuringly, _“I promise I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”_

“Okay Korra,” Asami said, “Just call me if you need me.”

 _“Thanks kid,”_ Korra sighed happily, _“I’ll call you in the morning.”_

The call ended and Asami sat limply on her bed. Something was definitely going on. She grabbed the blue sweater and hung it back in the closet, saving it for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me here if you're not a meninist: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	4. Awkward Noodles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is disgustingly short I apologize.   
> Things (tragedies) will pick up in the next chapter as soon as I get off my ass and write it.

The silence was oh so awkward. 

Like so awkward you could reach out your hand and feel it floating around your fingertips in the air. 

Asami was desperately searching for something to say as she dug her chopsticks around in her noodles but her mind was coming up completely blank. She had a lot of questions sure, but she knew all of them crossed some sort of line and she wasn’t ready to mess things up with Korra just yet. First of all, she was mad with curiosity about Korra’s abrupt ending to her soccer career. Everything about that just didn’t add up. Second of all, she was still confused about the weird phone call from the night before. Why did Korra sound like she was in pain? There were so many questions swirling around in Asami’s head that it was starting to make her feel dizzy. She stopped stirring her noodles as her stomach gave a lurch. 

It was  _ slightly  _ comforting to see that Korra looked equally as embarrassed as she idly dumped spices into her soup every couple of minutes, looking like she had just committed a serious crime. 

“That’s a lot of pepper.” Asami finally said while Korra was mid-shake. 

“Oh right,” Korra said sheepishly, putting down the shaker, “I forgot that I already put spices in it.” 

“I’m just going to point out the elephant in the room,” Asami said, putting down her chopsticks, “This is really awkward.” 

“Um yeah,” Korra agreed, fingers inching towards the pepper again, “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other so I guess there’s some adjustments to be made.”

“Yeah I’m sure a lot has changed in these past years.” Asami said in what she hoped was an encouraging voice, “Sorry if it’s weird.”

“Hey it was bound to be awkward,” Korra said with a comforting smile, “Why don’t you tell me about engineering school so we can break the tension.”

“Why do you want to hear about that?” Asami asked, raising an eyebrow, “It’s not exactly the most exciting topic.” 

“Dude I wanna hear about everything that happened when you left!” Korra said excitedly, “You got into the most prestigious engineering high school in the country and I want to hear all about it!”

Asami finally cracked a grin and felt the tension in her shoulders relax. Korra was still the bundle of energy she had been all those years ago. Even now, Asami could see glimpses of that chubby-cheeked 14 year old on the school bus who stood up for the pizza-faced nerd. 

“I had the time of my life,” Asami started, “Freshman year was like paradise on Earth.”

“Only freshman year?”

Asami hesitated. 

“Well… I mean things sorta changed after that.” She said with a frown, “People got  _ really  _ serious and competitive.” 

“Well isn’t that how it is in every high school?” Korra asked, “Colleges are becoming more and more selective these days. With my grades, I got lucky that I even got my scholarship to RCU.” 

“Well yeah but a lot of people had goals similar to mine, like to be the CEO of Future Industries,” Asami explained, digging her chopsticks around in her noodles again, “I gained a lot of enemies from that.” 

“Oh I see,” Korra said, “So they saw you as a huge threat because your dad is the owner of the company which technically makes you the heir.”

“Yes,” Asami said weakly, “Those years were terrible. All my friends turned against me and I used to find death threats in my dorm.” 

“Holy shit are you serious?” Korra said, looking startled, “Nobody actually tried to kill you right?” 

“No...No they were just notes.” She sighed, “I just kinda tossed them in the trash and ignored them. It was a lonely two years.” Asami cleared her throat and ate a mouthful of noodles, avoiding Korra’s gaze. 

“You know I would’ve been there for you right?” Korra said, a serious look on her face, “We were in different time zones but I would’ve had no problem with you waking my ass up in the middle of the night.” 

“That’s sweet,” Asami said with a sad smile, “But being isolated by your peers sort of turns you into a loner.” 

“I know how you feel.” Korra muttered out of the corner of her mouth, “Anyway what happened after you graduated?”

“I was top of my class and I got accepted into Ba Sing Se University’s engineering program,” Asami said shyly, not wanting to sound like she was bragging, “So that’s technically where I’m at now.” 

“ _ Wow.”  _ Korra marveled in awe, “Asami, you are like the definition of prestigious.” 

“Oh please,” Asami said, a pleasant blush forming on her cheeks, “I’m not even the top in my class. I’m just a regular student.” 

“So if you’re still in college, what are you doing back in Republic City?” Korra asked, shoving her peppery noodles into her mouth. She grimaced slightly at the strong taste.

“The last year is spent getting hands on experience, like an internship sort of thing.” Asami explained, “Of course I would be working at Future Industries so here I am.” 

“That had to be some twist of fate.” Korra said around her food, “Otherwise we wouldn’t have met up again.” 

“Agreed,” Asami grinned, “So what about you? I heard you’re a big time soccer star now.” To Asami’s surprise, Korra suddenly swallowed her big ball of noodles and began to choke as she forced it down her throat. 

“Uhh yeah soccer was my thing for a while,” She stuttered hastily, “It didn’t really work out y’know it happens sometimes.” 

“Wait I’m confused,” Asami said with a frown, “Did something happen to make you quit?”

“No no no of course not,” Korra dismissed almost frantically, “Soccer and I just...didn’t quite work out. I have other passions besides kicking around a muddy ball.” 

“Okaaaay? Well it’s a shame it didn’t work out,” Asami said, “From what I read you were a pretty talented player. I wish I could’ve seen you play.” 

“I was pretty dynamite.” Korra said, pridefully puffing out her chest, “I always had the other team worn out before the second half had even begun.”

“Sounds like you haven’t changed much since middle school.” Asami said, “Are you still teaching bullies a lesson?”

“Naw, people know better than to cause trouble around me.” Korra boasted, “They see my guns and they go running in the other direction.” She flexed her arm muscles for dramatic effect. And it was  _ very  _ effective on Asami who stared in marvel at Korra’s perfectly sculpted biceps and triceps. She had never been more thankful for the invention of tank tops than in that moment. 

She figured a lot had changed over the years, but it also felt like nothing had changed at all.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr if you like losers gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	5. This Will Be The Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami finally finds out what happened to Korra!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter is tragic enough for you.

Korra hated doing dishes. She hated it with a passion and always had. There was nothing in the entire world that could quench the fires of her hatred for scraping old food off of dirty plates. But, Katara recommended that Korra stay standing for at least 3 hours on the days she didn’t have work and her mother  _ had  _ warned her that “idle hands are Vaatu’s playthings.” So it was Senna’s bright idea that Korra should start doing the dishes before dinner every night to keep her busy while she followed her standing regiment. It was practically hell on Earth for Korra who loathed the wrinkly feeling the warm water gave her fingers. She grimaced as she peeled some soggy, uneaten scrambled egg off a bowl that she had used for her breakfast. Disgusting. 

“Soo Korra,” Senna said casually from the kitchen table where she was chopping vegetables, “I heard you reunited with that pretty girl you used to gush about every day.” The bowl Korra was washing slipped from her hands and went clattering into the sink.

_ “Mom!”  _ She groaned, “I did not  _ gush  _ about her, I simply mentioned her in conversation. And it wasn’t  _ every  _ day!” 

“Right, it might’ve been every  _ other  _ day.” Senna said with a smirk, “Anyway how did you two find each other again? It’s been what, almost 8 years?” 

“Well we sorta stumbled into each other while I was working.” Korra said, “I almost didn’t recognize her.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Korra said, splitting into a huge grin, “She got soo beautiful, like her hair is longer and she’s an expert on make-up and-”

“You’re gushing.” Senna said. Korra’s mouth snapped shut and she blushed deep red. She whirled back towards the sink and rapidly began washing another dish to cover her shame. Maybe she did gush about Asami a lot.

“So does this mean you’re dating Asami now?” Senna asked innocently as she chopped up a carrot. 

“I- wha-  _ Mom!”  _ Korra spluttered.

“Korra’s dating Asami now?” Tonraq asked as he entered the kitchen carrying a bag of onions, “Why didn’t you tell us that you snagged such a winner?” 

_ “Dad!”  _

“I guess she likes to keep secrets now.” Senna shrugged, “I would’ve liked to know that our daughter was dating the perfect woman but I guess we can’t be trusted.”

“We’re not dating!” Korra said in exasperation, “We’ve hung out like, twice since she got back into town!” 

“Ah, but you were gushing about her.” Senna said in mock accusation.

“All the telltale signs of a crush.” Tonraq added wisely as he began to dice an onion. 

“You guys are killing me.” Korra groaned, turning back to the sink as her parents laughed behind her. 

“Oh you know we’re just teasing you,” Senna said, “Did you forget to tell us that Asami was back in town?” 

“No,” Korra said, “I just didn’t know if things would be the same so I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” 

“I always liked Asami,” Tonraq said like a proud father, “She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”

“Oh, and I don’t?” Korra asked, raising an eyebrow at her father. 

“You’re forgetting the time you sprained your wrist while trying to do reps with Naga.” Senna chimed in.

“Or that time you almost broke a leg by jumping off the roof into the snow.”

“And when you-”

“Okay okay I get it,” Korra interjected with a grumble, “Jeez why don’t you guys adopt Asami if you love her so much?” 

“Well if things go right between you two we won’t have to worry about adopting her into the family.” Tonraq smirked. 

“Spirits, I’m outta here.” Korra said, dropping her dishrag into the sink. 

“Tell our future daughter in law that we said hello!” Senna called from the kitchen as Korra marched up towards her room. It had been had moved to the first floor of the house since stairs were no longer an easy option for Korra. She smiled to herself before closing her door. It honestly made Korra happy when her parents joked around with her like that. For a while they acted like she was a fragile sheet of glass that would break at the slightest touch. So, it felt nice that things were mostly back to normal. She had forgotten how skilled her parents were at embarassing an individual. And by individual she meant herself.  

“Hey Naga.” Korra greeted to the large, white dog snoozing in the corner. Naga gave a half-hearted grunt of acknowledgement before rolling over and going back to sleep.

“Sheesh when did you get so lazy,” Korra teased, patting Naga on the belly, “Don’t let all that youthful energy go to waste.” Naga responded by rolling over again. Korra reached over and grabbed her phone off of it’s charger, scrolling down  her contacts until she found Asami’s name.

 

**Korra:** I think my parents are more excited about you being back in town than I am.

**Asami:** Your parents have good taste.

**Korra:** Also be careful I think my dad is going to try and adopt you.

**Asami:** Tell him I’ll have the papers ready ;)

**Korra:** Well I’m sure they’d love to see you. You should stop by next time we hang out.

**Asami:** I would love to. 

 

\---

 

Asami stood at Korra’s front door right at 8 o’clock. Punctual as always. She knocked on the door three times and was surprised to hear the menacingly deep rumble of a dog barking behind it. It sounded like a big, big dog. It almost scared Asami a little. 

“Down Naga!” Korra’s muffled voice came from behind the door, “ _ Christ  _ Naga, you’re gonna hurt someone. Down!” The barking died down and the door opened. Korra was still restraining what looked like a small bear which was excitedly trying to paw it’s way towards Asami.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.” Asami said in surprise, giving Naga a gentle pat on the head, “It’s huge.”  

“Yup!” Korra said proudly, “She’s in her fighting prime!” She gestured as Naga trotted back into the house and plopped down on her fluffy dog bed with a sleepy sigh. “Well she was in her prime like 3 years ago that is.” Korra added with a shrug. She motioned Asami into the house which looked almost the same as it did eight years ago. Water Tribe decor was abundant all throughout the house with wooden carvings and paintings of frozen tundras. The same long, blue rug was still in the hallway which made Asami almost nostalgic since her and Korra used to roll each other up in it. 

“I’m still getting ready but my mom is in the living room if you want to hang out with her for a few minutes,” Korra said, pointing to the couch where Senna was watching the news, “I won’t be long.”  

  “No worries,” Asami said, “I can discuss the adoption papers with your mom.” Korra rolled her eyes with a smile and bounded back towards her room. It confused Asami for a moment since she remembered Korra’s room always being upstairs. She walked into the living room, admiring all the pictures of little Korra playing in the snow. 

“Asami!” Senna greeted with an excited smile, rising from the couch and enveloping her into a hug, “It’s so good to see you!” 

“You too Senna,” Asami said, taking a seat next to her on the couch.

“I heard that you’re a big time engineer now.” Senna said.

“Oh not yet,” Asami answered modestly, “I’m still doing my internships at Future Industries.”

“Well the way Korra talks about you I would’ve thought you were the CEO by now.” Senna chuckled.

“She likes to exaggerate my accomplishments,” Asami said, feeling a blush creep onto her face, “I’m still a student technically.” 

“Korra could learn a thing or two from you,” Senna said, “I keep trying to get her to get back into her classes but she never signs up.” Asami glanced back towards Korra’s room quickly, making sure she wasn’t in the hallways listening.

“Senna,” Asami started nervously, “Can I ask you something about Korra? Something I think she’s been hiding from me.” 

Senna immediately frowned as if the question pained her, but nodded for Asami to continue.

“What happened to Korra during college?” Asami asked carefully, “I mean she mentioned losing her soccer scholarship and that she stopped playing altogether but she won’t tell me why. Does she...not trust me?”

Senna’s frown deepened and became more troubled.

“I don’t think she’s hiding these things from you because she doesn’t trust you,” Senna said, “I think she is still ashamed of what happened to her.” 

“But why would she be ashamed?” Asami asked, “Sport-related injuries happen all of the time don’t they?” 

“Well, it wasn’t exactly an injury.” Senna said.

“The other night when were talking on the phone, it sounded like Korra was in a lot of pain,” Asami pressed on, feeling like she was going to start crying, “Like she was holding back a scream or something. Please Senna, what happened to my friend?” 

“It’s not my place to tell you,” Senna said apologetically, “I wish I could, but it is Korra’s decision whether or not to tell you what happened to her.” 

“I understand.” Asami whispered. 

“Don’t worry,” Senna said with a sad smile, putting a comforting hand on Asami’s shoulder, “That goofball we knew all those years ago is still with us. It’s just a little harder to find her some days.”

“Thank you Senna.” Asami said, “I’ll respect whatever Korra decides to tell me.” 

“Hey Asami!” Korra called from her room, “Should I wear striped or solid socks?”

“Aren’t you wearing jeans?” Asami called back. There was a pause.

“...Oh yeah,” Korra said, “I’ll wear both!” 

“Ever since you came back, she’s been that goofball more and more often.” Senna said. Korra burst out of her room and skidded to a stop in front of the couch, striking a dramatic pose.

“I am ready for fun.” She announced, index finger still pointed towards the ceiling.

“Well then you’re going to be very disappointed,” Asami said, “I was planning to spend the evening with Senna instead.” 

“We’re going to exchange embarrassing stories about you,” Senna teased, “Like that time I caught your boyfriend hanging halfway out of your window.” Asami’s heart sank at those words. So the rumor about Korra’s teammate boyfriend was true. 

“Oh please,” Korra scoffed, “That wasn’t embarrassing for me, but it was completely embarrassing for Mako.”

“He was a troublemaker,” Senna scowled, “I was happy when you dumped him.” 

“I always figured you would be the one doing the dumping,” Asami said, trying to fight the elation she now felt in her chest, “Did he cry?”

“Please Asami,” Korra said, “I am no heartless beast. But yes, he did tear up slightly even though he’ll deny it if you ask.” 

“I will definitely be asking him if we ever meet.” Asami said, “Denial is such a sweet sound.” 

“Well don’t let me keep you kids from having your fun.” Senna said, standing up from the couch, “Have a good time.” 

“Bye Mom.” Korra said, giving her a quick hug, “See you later.”

“It was good talking to you Senna.” Asami said, also giving her a hug. 

“It was good seeing you Asami,” She said, giving Asami a quick wink before heading up the stairs. 

 

\----

 

Korra and Asami ended up grabbing a case of beer and some pizza, spending the evening at Asami’s apartment watching reruns of a sitcom called No Matter the Universe. Even though the atmosphere was light and cheerful, Asami felt afraid. She wanted to bring up the unmentionable subject to Korra, but she didn’t want to ruin the good atmosphere they had. 

But then again, Korra seemed to be completely comfortable, which meant that she trusted Asami right? Korra took another swig of her beer and flashed Asami a wide smile, accidently dripping some of her drink onto her shirt. 

“I think I’m slightly inebriated.” Korra laughed, wiping at the wet spot with her hand. 

“Don’t smile when your mouth is full of beer next time.” Asami said, pinching Korra’s cheek teasingly, “Paper towels are in the kitchen. Down the hall to the left, watch out for the steps.”

“I will go retrieve them.” Korra said, snapping to salute. She grabbed her bottle and stumbled slightly towards the kitchen. Asami turned back towards the TV, becoming absorbed in the show as she took a sip of her own drink. She almost spat it back out when a loud crash came from down the hall, almost like shattering glass and something heavy being dropped.

“Korra?” Asami called worriedly, looking over the back of the couch. She received no answer. “Korra!” She lept over the side and rushed down the hallway, dread coiled up in her gut. 

Korra was lying facedown on the steps in a puddle of beer and broken glass, her face buried in her hands trying to hide her shame. Asami felt her heart break at the sight. She knelt down gently, shaking hands hovering over Korra’s back and feeling too afraid to touch her. Would it cause more pain? Would she be making things worse?  

“It’s okay,” Asami whispered softly, finally putting her hands on Korra’s back, “Korra look at me. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Korra didn’t move but her shoulders began to quiver as if she were fighting back a sob. Asami carefully pulled Korra off the steps and held her in her arms, rubbing her hand up and down Korra’s back gently as it shook. 

“I’m sorry,” Korra sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, “I didn’t mean… I’m sorry.” 

“Korra please,” Asami begged, hand placed on Korra’s tear-stained cheek, “Please stop hiding this from me,” She felt tears well up behind her own eyes, “I need to know what’s wrong so I can help you.” Korra clenched her teeth as more tears came spilling out of her eyes. 

“I’m so ashamed,” Korra whispered almost fearfully, “I used to be something. Now I can’t even walk up a couple of goddamn steps. I’m useless.” 

“You’re not useless.” Asami said fiercely, hugging Korra closer to her, “Not even close.” 

“If I tell you, you’re going to treat me differently,” Korra said, “Everybody did after it happened and I hate it.” 

“No matter what happened to you, you’re still Korra. You’ll always be Korra.” Asami said, “You have to trust me.” 

“I do trust you.” Korra said, taking a deep breath and exhaling through her nose. She looked determined, “Alright. I’ll tell you.”   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO just kidding you have to wait until next chapter to find out.
> 
> follow me on tumblr if you like cliffhangers: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	6. We Will Foresee Obstacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now you really get to find out what happened to Korra :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter is like mega dark so you've been warned. 
> 
> Good Luck.

Korra was considerably calmer. The tears had been wiped away and the shaking finally fell to minimum. Asami had given her some clothes to change into and put the beer-soaked ones into the washer. Though Korra was calm, she was very quiet and it unnerved Asami. She was staring at the Netflix menu screen with a hollow expression on her face. That was probably what made Asami so uneasy. She wasn’t used to seeing Korra so utterly devoid of emotion. Asami tore her eyes away from her friend and poured the cup of detergent she was holding into the washer, hesitating before walking out into the living room. She sat gingerly on the cushion next to Korra who only spared her a glance. Asami felt, once again, afraid to touch Korra as if some invisible barrier was wedged tightly between them. 

“How are you feeling?” Asami asked, resisting the urge to place a hand on Korra’s shoulder.    

“I’m fine,” Korra said, “Just...psyching myself up I guess.” She looked like she was about to be sick.

“I know this is hard for you,” Asami said gently, finally reaching out and grabbing Korra’s hand, “But I want you to know that I’m here for you.” Korra closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose, noticeably relaxing. 

“Alright, well here goes nothing.” 

 

\---

_ Three Years Ago _

 

“Well congratulations  _ Captain!”  _ Bolin boomed, his voice echoing down the empty hallway as he gave Korra a good-natured shove. She gave him a rough shove back but couldn’t keep the pleased grin off her face.

“Yeah congrats!” Mako added with a pat on the shoulder, “I knew Coach was going to pick you.” 

“Aw come on guys,” Korra said modestly, juggling a soccer ball on her finger, “It could’ve been any one of us.”  

“No way!” Bolin said, “You’ve got the most skill out of all of us and you know it.” 

“Okay but it’s still a team effort.” Korra said, “I can feel the championship trophy in my hands already!” They gave a collective whoop which bounced off the walls of the empty locker room. Korra grabbed her gym bag and waved goodbye as she headed towards the shower. 

Captain. 

Just thinking about it put a wide grin on her face. 

She didn’t want to say that she expected it but everyone on the team had pretty much decided that it was going to be Korra after their first practice. Colleges all over the country had been begging her to play for their team, even going as far as offering her all sorts of special perks if she pledged to them (which was illegal). But Korra had established a life in Republic City and had no desire to start a new one somewhere unfamiliar. Besides, all of her teammates from high school were headed towards RCU and she couldn’t break up the squad. 

Korra glanced at her watch and nonchalantly noticed that she was going to be late for her Biology class. She shrugged and continued to later her body with soap, washing away the grime and grass stains from her skin. Her watched beeped another warning a few minutes later which made Korra sigh and turn off the scalding water. She dried and dressed as fast as possible, accidentally pulling her jeans on backwards. She stumbled out of the locker room, yanking on her sneakers, and started her trot towards the science building. 

It took Korra a few minutes to notice that the campus was eerily silent as she strolled towards her lecture hall. Usually crowded with bustling students, the sidewalks were now deserted. Had all the classes been cancelled? Korra slowed her pace and felt a strange sense of dread in her stomach as she opened the door to the Bio building. 

Again, no students in sight. Korra slowly walked towards her classroom and tugged on the door. Locked. 

“What the hell…?” Korra muttered to herself. She pulled out her phone, groaning to find it completely dead, “Guess I better find an outlet.” 

She ventured over to the benches that were often crowded with Bio majors and plugged her phone into the wall. Korra hummed and tapped on her leg impatiently as she waited for the phone to gather enough charge to turn on, which always took forever. There was a strange barrage of noises coming from somewhere outside which caught Korra’s attention. Cold panic started to set in as she got the feeling that she was very exposed sitting on that bench. 

“Come on come on,” Korra whispered urgently at her phone which was finally starting up. Very slowly. The noises sounded off again, closer this time. Korra began to frantically shake her phone as if it would make it turn on faster. Finally her home screen popped into view. 

“Seventeen messages?” Korra said, alarm creeping up into her voice. Korra’s trembling fingers swiped across her screen, opening the message app. She was bombarded with panicked messages in all caps from Bolin and Mako who were screaming at her not to leave the locker room for any reason. Korra’s heart went into a frenzy as she grabbed her phone and jumped up from the bench. She dove towards the nearest classroom and shook the doorknob. Locked. She tried the next one, also locked. Korra banged her fist against the door but there was no indication that there was even anyone inside.

She turned, heart beating erratically in her throat. The biology building was practically all window and Korra figured she would be spotted a mile away by...whatever the danger was. She turned again and sprinted out of the building, leaving her thick and heavy backpack behind. It would only slow her down. She still had no idea what was going on but apparently it was something big. Mako never got upset by anything and even  _ he  _ had no chill with the caps lock button. Korra pounded down the sidewalk, looking wildly left and right for somewhere to hide, but all of the buildings were locked tight. 

The noise fired off again, closer than ever, and Korra came to a sudden, horrifying realization.             

Gunshots. 

Korra’s panic quickly turned into near hysteria as she slowed to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, frozen by fear. She had nowhere to hide. 

_ Runrunrunrunrunrun  _ her head was screaming but her legs seemed locked in place. A rustle nearby made Korra shout out in surprise. 

“Korra...” 

“Tahno?” She asked with a jolt, her voice an octave higher than normal. Her cocky and often arrogant teammate was lying limply in the bushes as if he had been pushed over. Tahno looked like he was about to say something sarcastic as usual but instead of words, blood came spilling out of his mouth with a wet cough. Korra gasped and took a step back as she saw more blood pooling around Tahno’s waist.

She didn’t even realize she was moving until she had grabbed her teammate by the arms and had slung him across her back. She could feel the warm sensation of his blood soaking into her clothes, and it made her stomach lurch. They had to get somewhere safe where Korra could call for someone, anyone to help Tahno who groaned weakly. As Korra ran, she noticed more and more bodies sprawled across the campus grounds. 

_ What the fuck is going on what the fuck,  _ her mind was bellowing over and over as her adrenaline kicked in double time. She skidded to a stop in front of the english building, which was mercifully unlocked, and jogged down the hallway where she was met with more locked classrooms. 

“Hello?” She called, “Someone help please!” Nobody answered. Korra let out a frustrated and panicked shout as she kept running. The hallway ended in a sharp left turn and Korra was prepared to keep moving but something made her stop abruptly. A man had turned the corner before she had. Korra stood frozen, breathing very labored as the adrenaline began to wear off and she realized how heavy Tahno was. 

The man’s face was half hidden by a shadow but there was no mistaking the blood that spattered his white suit despite the lack of weapons in his hands. From the looks of it, he hadn’t even noticed Korra yet. Or if he did, he wasn’t acknowledging her presence. She took a quiet few steps back, not even daring to breathe. She would’ve been fine if her phone hadn’t belted out it’s obnoxious text tone. It seemed to echo off the walls as the chime came to a ringing close.

The man turned and stared blankly at Korra as if he was not even surprised to see her standing there. He craned his head and clicked his teeth to the left, then brought his emotionless gaze back towards her. Three other people appeared next to the man, holding large assault rifles against their chests. 

“Korra…” Tahno wheezed, “...run.” Guns clicked and Korra felt tears of terror fill her eyes as she scrambled to turn around, but her legs were shaking too much. As she attempted to run, her legs wobbled dangerously in a combination of exhaustion and distress as she tried to make it back towards the way she came in. The first gunshot wizzed over her head. 

“Run girl run!” One of the gunners called mockingly as another bullet missed Korra’s leg by inches. 

They were toying with her. But she was so close to the door, so close if she reached out her hand…

Another gunshot sent her flying forward on impact, making her fall roughly to the floor. Dazed, Korra pressed her hand to the throbbing spot where her head had smacked into the hard ground but she didn’t feel like the bullet had hit her. That’s when she realized they hadn’t been aiming for her. 

Tahno had landed some feet away but he was facing the opposite direction from Korra.

“Tahno!” She shouted, reaching her hand out as if to touch him, “Tahno!” He did not stir. 

“Geez don’t be so dense.” Another one of the gunners clicked, “He’s dead. Obviously.” Korra’s head gave another nasty throb of pain as she began to drag herself towards the door.

_ This is happening.  _ Her mind raced,  _ this is really happening I’m going to die I’m going to-  _

Another round of adrenaline kicked in as Korra lept from the floor and made a break for the door. Her hand had barely touched the cold metal of the door handle when she felt the first bullet hit her back. Another quickly followed right behind it, hitting the back of her knee. Korra screamed and fell forward, hitting the door and then crumpling backwards. 

“Nice shot P’li!” A voice whooped, sounding very muffled and far away, “Where do we go now Zaheer?” 

“The science building.” The man in the white suit answered shortly, “There is a man there that I want to meet personally.” Korra was vaguely aware of being stepped over as the group made for the exit. 

“Whoa whoa wait this one is still alive!” One of the gunners shouted. She felt something hot poke into her back.

“She’ll be dead soon, I hit her spine.” A curt female voice said, “Let’s go! We don’t have a lot of time before the cops show up!” The door closed and Korra felt herself slip away into blackness. 

_ I am going to die. I am going to  _

 

\---

“But as you can see, I didn’t die,” Korra said, pausing to take a sip of her water. Her hands trembled terribly, “Some paramedics found me about fifteen minutes later and managed to save my life. Most of the others...they weren’t so lucky.”

Asami, who was a complete loss for words, assumed that Korra was talking about her teammate Tahno. 

“I was in the hospital for months, had surgery after surgery but they only really managed to fix my knee,” Korra continued, “Even then, I couldn’t walk on my own for some time after that.” Korra rolled up her left pant leg, revealing the most scarred up kneecap that Asami had ever seen. Several long jagged lines ran from her mid thigh, all the way down to her calf on both sides of her leg. A large, round scar lay on the back of her knee where the bullet had made impact. 

“There are still pieces of metal stuck in my spine,” Korra said, “They’re too risky to remove according to the my ‘specialists.’ So while I was in a wheelchair, recovering from my injuries, I lost my soccer scholarship and had to watch my team win the championship from the sidelines.” Korra breathed heavily through her nose as if that fact pained her significantly.

“While I was in the chair, people treated me so differently, like I was a fragile piece of glass that would shatter at the touch,” Korra spat bitterly, “I went from Korra the soccer star, to ‘that girl who got shot.’ Eventually I got fed up with it and begged my doctor for the surgery that would fix my back and legs, but-” She made a cutting motion with her fingers.   

“-One small slip of the tweezers and I’m back in that wheelchair for the rest of my life.” Korra chuckled morbidly and took another sip of water, “So here we are.”  

“Christ Korra…” Asami whispered, gripping her hands against her chest, “I-I didn’t know…about...any of this...” 

“It’s alright,” Korra muttered, “There’s no way you could have. I don’t blame you.” 

“I should’ve been there for you.” Asami said, her voice shaking and cracking with emotion, “I can’t believe you went through all of this alone and I was living it up in Ba Sing Se without a clue.”

“Look, after all that happened, you can bet your ass I was angry,” Korra said, “I shut everyone out and cursed them all, even blamed them for what happened to me. There was only one person who escaped my wrath. You.”

Asami blinked in confusion. “Me?” She asked, “I should’ve been at the top of your list.”

“No,” Korra shook her head, “Honestly the thought of seeing you again kept me going some days. Days I wanted to quit.” 

“Korra…”

“Even though you had been gone so long, I knew we had something special that couldn’t be severed by distance or time.” Korra said, “And I was right.” She grabbed Asami’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I’m just so happy that you’re here now.” 

“And I’m never leaving.” Asami whispered, holding Korra’s hand up to her lips, “Not ever.” 

“Well, I think sharing time is over.” Korra yawned, “Telling tragic backstories always makes me tired.” She leaned her head on Asami’s shoulder and was snoring gently within minutes. The guilty tears that had been brewing in Asami’s eyes finally fell, dripping onto Korra’s head. 

“I love you so much,” She whispered, into Korra’s hair, “And I’m never going to let you go.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least it's not a cliffhanger :)  
> Follow me on tumblr and send me an ask if this made you feel feelings: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	7. Love is Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami is a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God I'm so sorry.
> 
> Here's a long chapter

Asami sleepily opened her eyes just a tad as she finally started to fully rouse from her dream. The sun was struggling to peak through the heavy drapes pulled closed over her huge bedroom windows and she could already hear the rush hour traffic building up on the city streets. She had no idea what time it was but for the moment, she didn’t really care much. As the last bits of grogginess trickled away, Asami became aware of the fact that the entire left side of her body was completely numb. Like dead asleep. During the night, Korra must have rolled over right onto Asami, not realizing how much circulation loss it would result in.

Asami hesitated to move, not wanting to disturb Korra who was snoring gently as she slept on, undisturbed. On one hand, she was enjoying the very close contact, but on the other, Asami was seriously fearing limb amputation if she didn’t get some blood flowing again. She shifted ever so slightly, millimeters at a time, slowly releasing herself from Korra’s deadweight. Finally freed, Asami could already feel the painful pins and needles pricking at her nerves as the blood rushed back into the blocked areas. Korra gave a slight twitch but continued to snore as Asami pulled on a hoodie and some socks from her closet. 

She went into the kitchen and fired up the coffee maker, shivering as the A/C vent blew onto her neck. The air was absolutely freezing. Asami held a hand in up to the vent in confusion before going into the hallway and checking the thermostat. 

“What the…?” She squinted at the little digital numbers to make sure she was reading them right, “I don’t remember setting it that low.” She pressed the little arrow until the temperature was back at the normal 75 degrees. 

“Hey come on I like the cold.” Korra said from the doorway, making Asami jump.

“Well not everyone grew up in the South Pole.” Asami huffed with a smile, “Don’t forget I lived in Ba Sing Se for over five years.” 

“Ah yes, the seventh ring of hell itself.” Korra said, stretching her arms over her head. Asami tried not to stare as Korra’s shirt rode up slightly, revealing her  _ very  _ impressive set of abdominal muscles. 

“I’m making coffee,” Asami said dumbly, pointing to the kitchen where the coffee maker was gurgling into a pot, “Do you want a cup?” 

“Feels weird to not be the one making coffee,” Korra said, “But yes, I would love a cup of coffee since I’m not exactly a morning person.” She walked past Asami and paused suddenly at the steps.

“We can drink it in the living room if you want.” Asami said quickly.

“No it’s fine,” Korra shrugged, “It’ll just take me a second.” She gripped the wall and slowly lifted her leg to the first step, and then the next, until she was standing triumphantly on the tiled floor. 

“Must be a good day.” She grinned as she plopped down into one of the kitchen chairs. 

“So there are good days and bad days?” Asami asked as she poured the steaming coffee into a couple of Future Industries mugs her father had lent her when she moved out. 

“Well yeah, almost all injuries have their good days and bad days.” Korra said as she took a sip from her mug, “Wow you make coffee better than I do. You should come work at the Medium Drip.” 

“Sorry I’m already contractually obligated to work for Future Industries.” Asami frowned in mock disappointment. 

“Anyway, some days it almost feels like I’m getting better,” Korra continued, “But then there’s times when the pain is so overwhelming I can’t get out of bed or focus on anything else except how bad my legs hurt.”  

“Do you get bad days often?’ Asami asked.

“Not so much anymore,” Korra said, “But still often enough that sometimes I have to use Naga to get around.” 

“Naga helps you walk?”

“Yup, she’s my service dog.” Korra explained with a smile, “Well not so much anymore but I used to have to take her everywhere with me.” 

“Wow I never would’ve guessed by looking at her.” Asami said in awe, thinking of the massive, energetic animal that greeted her at Korra’s door. 

“She’s really well trained I swear,” Korra said, “But my mom spoils her so she’s gotten a little rusty with her listening skills.” She took another sip from her mug as silence settled between them. More questions buzzed around in Asami’s mind but again, she was afraid of overstepping a boundary and upsetting Korra. 

“I don’t know why,” Korra said distantly as she gazed out the kitchen window, “But it’s so easy to talk about these things with you.” Asami said nothing as she watched Korra absentmindedly stir a spoon around in her coffee.

“It took so long for me to tell these sort of things to my parents and my friends,” Korra continued, finally meeting Asami’s eyes, “But here I am openly talking about things it took my parents years to get out of me.”

“I don’t feel like I deserve that privilege.” Asami admitted, dropping her eyes to the table. She felt Korra’s warm hand clasp her own.

“Of course you do.” Korra said seriously, “I know it’s been a while but you’re still that dorky kid who took notes while watching Popular Mechanics, AKA my best friend who I could tell anything.” Asami couldn’t suppress her smile. 

“And you’re still a huge goofball with more energy than you know what to do with.” Asami laughed.

“Wrong, I put all of my energy into making coffee,” Korra said, standing up from her chair, “Come on, get up. This calls for hugs.” Asami stood and Korra immediately sank into her arms, tucking her head under Asami’s chin. Asami felt her heartbeat pick up speed as Korra seemed to melt into her body.  

“You know I’m never leaving again right.” Asami said as she squeezed Korra tighter, as if afraid that she would disappear if she let her go. 

“I know that.” Korra said back, “I’m never leaving either.” She lifted her head and they both became aware of how close their faces were. Asami could feel Korra’s breath against her lips and her hands firmly on her waist. 

_ If I just leaned my head forward an inch.  _ Asami thought, feeling a burst of adrenaline,  _ Don’t miss another chance like you did on the dock!  _  She was about to go for it when the shrill sound of Korra’s ringtone made them jump apart. 

“Speaking of coffee,” Korra said, a very obvious blush on her cheeks, “That would be my coworker calling.” Heart still pounding in her ears, Asami nodded with a weak smile as Korra answered her phone. She took several sips of her coffee while Korra talked to try and cover the fact that her face was probably as red as a tomato. 

“Well apparently I’m two hours late for my shift.” Korra said, tossing her phone onto the table and grabbing her mug. 

“Oh shit I’m sorry!” Asami said frantically, “I didn’t mean to make you late! I’ll grab my keys so I can drive you there.”

“Chillax Sato.” Korra chuckled, “Do you see me panicking?” 

“But aren’t you late?” Asami asked, giving Korra a puzzled look, “What if your boss gets mad?” 

“Nah, my boss is never there so I’m not too worried about it.” She shrugged, “Plus Bolin said he’d hold down the fort until I get there. Must be a slow day because that guy  _ cannot  _ handle a crowd.”

“Sorry for freaking out.” Asami sighed with a grin, “I’m so used to constant punctuality.” She lowered back into her chair across from Korra, heart still beating at an unusually fast pace. 

“I’m late to pretty much anything that I go to,” Korra said, “So I could use some punctuality in my life.” She drained her mug and sighed contently. 

“But I should seriously get going.” Korra said with a frown, “I don’t want Bolin to shatter under the pressure.” 

“I can still give you that ride.” Asami offered hopefully. 

“Nah,” Korra declined, “I’m supposed to keep my legs in motion and the shop is only a couple blocks from here.” 

“Well let me grab your clothes from the dryer so you don’t have to work in PJ’s.” Asami said, rushing to the laundry room to grab Korra’s shirt and jeans. 

“Is it cool if I change in your room?” Korra asked, taking the warm bundle of clothes from Asami. 

“Of course.” 

Korra closed the door and Asami immediately sank onto the couch, moaning quietly. She almost  _ kissed  _ Korra.  _ Almost!  _

_ Spirits, grow some balls Sato,  _ Asami scolded herself. She wasn’t sure but it felt like Korra wanted to maybe kiss her back??? Of course it could all be a delusion she made up in her head. Maybe Korra was sneaking out of the window in her room to get away because Asami was just so creepy. Asami was about to jump up and wrench the door open to make sure Korra hadn’t jumped ship when she heard whistling coming from her room. She sat back down in relief, feeling stupid at the irrational thought of Korra literally hopping out a window to escape her. A moment later, the door to her room opened and Korra came out, still whistling tunelessly as she shoved her phone and wallet into her pockets. 

“Your detergent smells really good.” Korra said, sniffing at her shirt. 

“You can thank my dad, he’s the one that bought it.” Asami laughed as Korra took an exaggerated sniff of her armpit. 

“Smells like apples.” She decided with a laugh as she put her arms down. 

“Alright you goof, your friend is going to have my head if I keep you any longer.” Asami said. 

“Yeah yeah I hear ya.” Korra said dismissively. She walked forward and pulled Asami into another tight hug, “I’ll see you later okay?” 

“Definitely.” Asami said, once again reluctant to let Korra out of her grip. She gave a final wave as the elevator doors closed and Korra was out of sight. She turned and walked back into her apartment which felt smaller now that Korra’s infectious cheerful atmosphere was missing. 

  
  


\---

 

“Oh Godddddd you’re so late!” Bolin moaned as Korra tied her apron around her waist, “The line was out the door Korra! Out the  _ door!”  _

“Sorry man,” Korra said, filling the grinder with more coffee beans, “I slept late and then we were talking it got like weirdly intense and-” 

“Wait wait wait,” Bolin interrupted, “We?” Korra coughed and turned back towards the grinder to hide her blush.

“Sooooo…” Bolin said smugly, sliding over to Korra, “Weirdly intense? With Asami eh?” Korra scowled as her face turned a darker shade of red. 

“It was…” She hesitated, “Just nothing...” Which was a blatant lie. Korra wanted so badly to just lurch forward and kiss Asami like she had wanted to when they were kids sitting on that dock… And maybe it sorta seemed like Asami had wanted to do the same?

“Well we were talking in her kitchen and I gave her a hug and then we almost  _ sort of  _ kissed but then we  _ didn’t  _ but I think maybe she wanted to?” Korra said quickly, looking as conflicted as she felt. 

“I dunno, doesn’t really sound like nothing.” Bolin said, “How do you know Asami doesn’t feel the same way about you?”

“Oh please.” Korra laughed bitterly, facing the grinder again, “I’m damaged goods Bolin. I don’t have anything to offer her.” 

“Hey don’t be talking like that!” Bolin scolded, grabbing Korra by the shoulders, “Stop getting so down on yourself and just accept that Asami is definitely into you. Like hardcore.”

“But how can I be sure?” Korra said desperately, “I’m going to look like an idiot if I’m reading her all wrong.” 

“Korra trust me.” Bolin said suavely, “In my experience with women, I’ve found that romantic signs are the easiest to pick up on.”

“You’re experience with women?” Korra scoffed, “You have none!” 

“False!” Bolin shouted, “Remember Ginger? Yeah remember her? She was a woman!” 

“That relationship lasted all of 10 hours,” Korra said, “And she was only using you to get free food remember?” 

“...Good point.” Bolin said after a moment of thought, “But either way, just trust me on this okay! I just have this gut feeling.” 

“Guess I can’t go wrong with that.” Korra said, “Well chin up, we’ve got a line forming.” Bolin put his hand on Korra’s shoulder.

“I’m serious Korra,” He said, no hint of humor on his face, “Don’t talk yourself out of this one.” 

“I won’t Bolin.” Korra said, patting his arm, “I promise.” 

“Good. Now we’ve got customers to serve! Let’s go Captain!” 

“Roger that.” 

 

\---

 

“Well after she left I did some research on the shooting.” Asami said, putting some freshly printed papers on the cafe table where she sat with an old friend from high school. Opal was one of the many people who dropped out of the engineering program in Ba Sing Se after freshman year. Many kids figured out that they had different passions than engineering and left the school to pursue other interests, Opal being one of them. She had moved to Republic City about the same time as Asami and was now training to be a Yoga instructor.    

“Oh I heard about this!” Opal said, eyes scanning over the headlines, “It was all over the news, even in Zaofu.” 

“I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until now.” Asami groaned, feeling sick to her stomach in shame, “They say it was the worst school shooting ever recorded.” 

“It was.” Opal said gravely, lowering the papers, “So this is Korra?” She pointed to a photograph on the second page. 

“Yep.” Asami said, looking at the black and white picture of a grinning Korra being held up by her teammates. Her hair was much longer then.

“She’s very good looking.” Opal said in an off-hand way, side-eyeing Asami, “But yeah what happened to her was honestly really tragic.” 

“That’s why I feel so terrible.” Asami moaned, “I was so caught up in my own life that I didn’t even hear about my best friend getting crippled by terrorists!” 

“Look, you can’t beat yourself up for this forever.” Opal said in a comforting tone, “It sounds like Korra’s not angry at all.” 

“That’s what I don’t get.” Asami mused, “She has every right to be angry with me since I practically abandoned her.” Opal sipped her cup of tea and continued to read over the pages. 

“At least those crazy kooks aren’t out there anymore.” Opal said, “Three of them were killed by the SWAT team and one of them is in maximum security prison.” 

“I hope that gives Korra some peace of mind at least.” Asami sighed, swirling her jasmine  tea around in her cup. 

“Well from the way you describe her, Korra sounds like she would forgive you for pretty much anything.” Opal said.

“She’s too kind.” Asami sighed again, “She just loves everyone too much y’know?” 

“Well I wouldn’t say  _ everyone.”  _ Opal smirked, “I think her love is much more centered than that if you catch my drift Sato.” Asami inhaled her tea in shock, coughing and spilling tea all down her shirt and into her lap.

“Wha- you-  _ Opal!”  _ Asami spluttered in disbelief. 

“Hey I’m just sayin’” Opal said cooly, “You’re the one that reacted so violently.” 

Asami grabbed a fistful of napkins and tried to soak up the tea that was rapidly soaking through her shirt while Opal watch in amusement.

“I’m a huge nerd remember?” Asami said, “No way Korra would want someone like me. She’s too...sporty and cool. Plus the whole disappearing act I pulled.”

“I’m telling you, she’s over that.” Opal said sternly, “That girl would follow you to the ends of the Earth, Sato. Clearly she’s overjoyed just to have you back in her life.” Opal tossed another stack of napkins at Asami as if it would help prove her point. 

“Well I mean we did sort of almost kiss I guess.” Asami said sheepishly. Opal looked up in surprise.

“Really now?” She said, “But you didn’t?” 

“No, it got interrupted by a phone call.” Asami said.

“Look, I think I know what might be going on here.” Opal said after thinking for a moment. 

“And what would that be?” 

“Well think about it,” Opal said, “You guys haven’t seen each other in years. Maybe you’re mistaking all these happy feelings for love when it’s just joy at having Korra back in your life.” Asami mulled this over in her mind. 

It did actually make a decent amount of sense… Asami had never been in love before so how could she know that she actually  _ loved  _ Korra? 

“That...actually makes sense.” Asami said, “I mean there’s no way that a little crush can carry over for almost 8 years am I right?” 

“That’s up for you to decide.” Opal shrugged, “But what do I know about love? I’m just a Yoga instructor.”         

       ---    

 

Asami waved good-bye to Opal as they parted ways outside of the little cafe. She turned and slouched dejectedly in the direction of her apartment. She couldn’t help but feel the tiniest sting of disappointment at Opal’s suggestion. She didn’t love Korra. Maybe she loved her as a friend is all. Blame it on the sudden rush of emotions from the reunion, that’s right. Korra doesn’t love her and she doesn’t love Korra. Simple as that. 

Her phone gave a quick buzz in her pocket. Asami paused and opened the lock screen to find a picture message from Korra. It was a picture of a latte with a heart drawn into the top layer of foam. 

“You’re coffee is still better.” The text bubble read. 

Asami stared at the picture and the words for a long time. 

Opal was wrong.

She loved Korra. 

She loved Korra a lot. 

She sighed as she put the phone back into her pocket and whispered softly to herself. 

  
“Dammit.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr if you wear lots of hats: gummy-gums.tumblr.com
> 
> I'm also on Twitter now @gummythegay


	8. To All of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing the next chapter like 5 seconds after I posted this so don't be mad! 
> 
> Also if there's any mistakes I apologize, I wanted to get this up before my laptop died.

“-And that should mean a 30% increase in profits while decreasing waste by 40% by the next quarter. Any questions?” Hiroshi finished his report, adjusting the stack of papers in his hands.

A couple of hands raised and Hiroshi began to discuss percentages back and forth with the ancient executive sitting next to Asami. She wanted to rip a fistful of her hair out in frustration and scream at the old men to stop talking. The meeting was rapidly reaching the three-hour milestone and Asami could feel her legs going numb from sitting in the chair so long without moving. 

She was more frustrated with the fact that she even had to be in this meeting in the first place. It was her father’s idea that she start learning the business side of Future Industries instead of just the mechanical side, so here she was. She wasn’t learning a thing and was only concerned with the garage time she was missing.  Another wrinkled hand raised and Asami had to resist the urge to slam her head right onto the table. She definitely saw the connection between old men and tortoises. They just moved and talked  _ so slow.  _

Asami had taken a few required business classes during her first couple years of college but she only did alright in them. Obviously if someone was going to run a business they better know what they’re doing and Asami had  _ somewhat  _ of an idea. Besides it would be years before her dad would even consider stepping down from his position as CEO. He had worked way too hard building Future Industries up from nothing just to give it up now.  

Hiroshi cleared his throat and put another chart up on the projector.

“Now we can move onto the second half of the presentation.” He said with a polite smile. Asami’s mouth dropped open as she stared at her father in disbelief. He winked at her before plowing right ahead into the dry material. 

_ You did this on purpose!  _ Asami accused him in her mind, knowing her dad would be teasing her about it later. She turned the page in her booklet with a sigh. The numbers and charts made absolutely no sense. Well, it might've made sense if she had been paying attention in the first place. 

The point being, she would literally do anything to get out of this meeting.  

There was a quick buzz in Asami’s pocket which made her jump slightly. And like saving grace, there was Korra’s name on her screen.  

 

**Korra:** Heyo what are you up to hot stuff? ;)

 

Asami felt her heart skip a beat as she read the message. She glanced around the room to make sure nobody had noticed her quick intake of air. But the gentlemen were still listening to her father’s droning with rapt attention.

 

**Asami:** I’m stuck in a business meeting surrounded by old dudes. PLEASE come save me the guy next to me smells like burnt turnips. 

**Korra:** Burnt turnips eh? Np. Be there in a bit, look for the guy in the green shirt 

 

**Asami:** Wait Korra I was kidding!

**Asami:** Korra?!

**Asami** : I’m going to murder you!

 

Asami’s eyes darted around the room as she continued to text Korra who apparently did not have the decency to respond. She felt slightly panicky, hoping Korra was not planning on bursting into the conference room and wreaking havok. Hiroshi was very strict about people interrupting his meetings, even with someone like Korra who he was very fond of. Asami drummed her fingers nervously on her thigh as she glanced down at her phone every few seconds. The speech bubble popped up but quickly disappeared which made Asami curse quietly.  

“Asami do you have a comment to make?” Hiroshi asked, giving her a stern look as he adjusted his glasses on the tip of his nose. The business men at the table all stared at her, looking miffed at the interruption. 

“No…” Asami said, forcing her eyes back down to her packet and finding that she was now several pages behind. A couple of the men grunted and cleared their throats as Hiroshi plunged back into the material. Several minutes passed and Asami finally started to calm down. Korra must have been joking and she freaked out for nothing. 

“Well Mr.Sato, how will that affect the tax cuts for the third quarter?” One of the more decrepit looking businessmen asked, squinting at the chart in front of him. Asami watched her dad take a deep breath as he prepared to give a long-winded answer. 

 

Oh right. She was still stuck here. 

 

Asami spaced out for a good twenty minutes before she felt another buzz in her pocket. She checked left and right before slipping her phone out and checking the home screen. 

 

**Korra:** BOMBS AWAY!!! 

 

As if right on queue, there was a splat against one of the conference room’s large glass windows. All fifteen heads, including Asami’s, turned to face the disturbance. It was an egg, now sliding down the glass in a wet messy splatter. 

“What in the name of Raava?” Hiroshi said, leaving his podium to look out the window. 

“DOWN HERE!” A voice bellowed from the parking lot. Asami could see a beefy young man with a green shirt tied around his face waving frantically up at them. He rummaged around in his backpack and pulled out a couple eggs. He walked up to the shiniest car and smashed them right onto the windshield. 

“My car!” The decrepit business man cried, jumping up from his chair faster than Asami thought possible for someone his age. Hiroshi threw open the window.

“Young man what do you think you’re doing?” He roared down at the masked vandal. 

“Yeah put a shirt on hippie!” One of the other executives piped in. 

“Capitalism is destroying our society!” The assailant yelled back, grabbing more eggs and pelting the other expensive cars around him. More of the old men jumped up in anger as their own cars were assaulted with eggs. 

“I’ll get that little hooligan!” One of them wheezed, throwing down his packet and rushing through the doors to the elevator. All of the others (including Hiroshi) were right on his heels. Asami sat stunned in her chair, literally not believing what just happened. She finally turned around to find Korra leaning against the doorway, a smirk wide on her lips. 

“Boom.” She said, rolling an egg between her hands. 

“You evil genius.” Asami said, face still full of disbelief, “You absolute genius.” She broke out into a smile and grabbed Korra into a spine-crushing hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyou.”

“No biggie.” Korra said, “I couldn’t do it without Bolin of course.” They both turned back towards the window to see Bolin dropping his bag of eggs and sprinting out of the parking lot right as the angry mob of old men appeared from the building. 

“I hope he gets away.” Asami frowned as a couple of the men continued to chase after him. 

“Don’t worry, I bet those oldies are more worried about their cars than Bolin.” Korra shrugged, wandering around the conference room. 

“Looks like you’re right.” Asami said. The men had stopped chasing Bolin and were now agonizing over the eggy sludge that covered their windshields. He had even gotten Hiroshi’s car which Asami couldn’t help but laugh at.

“Don’t fret gentleman,” Hiroshi’s voice floated up from below, “I have an emergency car wash just around the corner if you would follow me.” All fifteen cars peeled out of the parking lot, led by Hiroshi. Asami let out another sigh of relief. Fancy cars like those require all sorts of special care when it comes to cleaning. It would take hours for all of them to be maintenanced.  

“What the heck do these numbers mean?” Korra asked, making a disgusted face at Asami’s meeting packet, “Have you really been looking at stuff like this for three hours?”

“Yes,” Asami said in exasperation, rubbing at her temples, “I thought it would never end.” 

“Well guess what? We’ve got the rest of the day to do whatever you want!” Korra announced, tossing the packet over her shoulder into the wastebasket, “What would  _ you  _ like to do Ms. Sato?” 

“Honestly I’m up for whatever as long as you’re there.” Asami said, “You’re great for stress relief.” She swore she saw Korra blush a bit, but she had turned before Asami could get a good look. 

“Well if it’s relaxation that you want then we could always just chill somewhere.” Korra said over her shoulder, “Like a park or something I dunno.” 

“Sounds great.” Asami said, “I haven’t been out to feed the turtle ducks in so long.”

“KORRA!” Bolin came crashing into the conference room, panting like he had just sprinted a marathon, “All crusty, turnip-smelling businessmen taken care of at your request!” He tore the t-shirt off of his face and put it back on his body. 

“Nice performance Bolin,” Korra said, patting him on the shoulder, “I owe you one.” 

“Yes, yes you do.” Bolin scowled, rubbing his head, “One of those old geezer’s got me with his cane.” 

“Well next time we go out for noodles, it’s on me.” Korra offered. 

“You’ve got yourself a deal!” Bolin said enthusiastically, “Anyway I’ve got to get going but it was lovely to meet you Ms. Sato.” 

“Likewise,” Asami said, “You’re my new hero.” Bolin bowed deeply before bounding out of the room into the elevator. 

“So, you ready to hit the park?” Korra asked, jingling her keys.

“Yeah let’s do it.” 

 

\---

 

 

They ended up stopping by a discount market to buy a loaf of whole grain bread for the turtle ducks. Asami was going to just buy a loaf of regular white bread but Korra had slapped it out of her hands, explaining hastily that it was bad for ducks and gave them diabetes. So, whole wheat it was.

When they pulled up to the park, Asami was still slightly thrown off by how new and improved it looked. The playsets seemed to be fresh from the factory and stood shining brightly in the sunlight. The dangling, broken swings had been replaced and probably didn’t give off that awful squeak whenever someone sat on them. But the park was deserted as it was the middle of the day and the sun was at its hottest. The pond was luckily tucked away in the shade of the trees and Asami could already see the little groups of turtle ducks splashing around in the water. 

As they walked towards the pond, Asami glanced towards the dock area that lead out into Yue Bay. It seemed to be the only part of the park that hadn’t gotten a complete makeover and she felt grateful for that. It was still the same dock she and Korra had sat on all those years ago. She wondered if their names were still carved into the last plank near the water.

Korra had begun to tear the pieces of bread into tiny, edible pieces with her hands. She offered Asami a handful with an infectious, excited grin which Asami couldn’t help but return. She knelt by the edge and held her palm over the water. A couple of the turtle ducks turned their tiny heads and frantically began to swim towards her.

“They’re smaller than I remember.” Asami observed as she distributed the pieces of bread. 

“Well, we’ve grown up quite a bit.” Korra said, “And when is the last time you’ve seen a turtle duck?”

“I guess that’s true,” Asami frowned. She hadn’t seen a turtle duck in person since eighth grade. 

“Hey I think I see some more down the dock!” Korra said, hopping up from the grass, “Let’s go feed those!” They walked down the splintery dock until they reached the edge where a large group of ducks waited expectantly. Asami glanced down at the last plank and noticed their names, while very faded and barely legible, were still carved into the dock. 

 

_ Korra and Asami were here. _

 

Asami was suddenly transported to all those years ago as they spent their last night together in this very spot. She could still hear the sound of Korra’s knife carving their names into the wood. It made her chest feel uncomfortably tight as if it was being restricted.   

“Oh look, this one only has one leg.” Korra said suddenly, pointing to the smallest duck in the back of the group that seemed to be struggling to get its share of bread. Korra leaned over the edge of the dock and scooped it into her hands. It struggled at first but calmed down once Korra offered it a small piece of bread. Korra looked so cute holding the tiny, one-legged turtle duck in her arms, petting it’s soft feathers. 

“It’s okay buddy I know how you feel.” Korra murmured softly to the turtle duck as it happily ate out of her palm. Asami barely heard it but it still made an impact on her. She blinked in awe while Korra released the duck back into the water where it hurried to catch up with its group. 

It was a picture perfect moment to Asami. Korra grinning widely, feathers and bread crumbs sticking to her shirt. It was the purest, most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She bit her lip as several scenarios flashed through her mind.

Opal’s advice echoed in between the thoughts. 

 

_ “Well think about it, you guys haven’t seen each other in years. Maybe you’re mistaking all these happy feelings for love when it’s just joy at having Korra back in your life.”  _

 

It made Asami hesitate.

But only for a second. 

“Fuck it.” she whispered under her breath before grabbing the front of Korra’s T-shirt and yanking her forward. Korra let out a surprised noise when their lips met rather roughly but quickly returned the kiss, cupping Asami’s face gently. Korra’s lips were much softer than Asami imagined they would be, and she felt like she could never stop kissing them. Korra pulled away first, looking like her brain had been overloaded. 

“Glad we could clear up any uncertainty.” Asami said smugly, plucking a stray feather off of Korra’s shirt.

“Wow, Asami...I” She stuttered, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, “It must be some kind of destiny that we’re in this exact spot.” 

“I wanted to do this that night we were here,” Asami said almost shyly, “When you carved our names into the dock….y’know right before I left.” To Asami’s surprise, Korra burst into laughter. 

“Oh my spirits!” She said, practically rolling on her back, “I wanted to kiss you so badly that night! I can’t believe the same thing was running through  _ your  _ mind too!” 

“It’s still running through my mind now.” Asami said, drawing Korra back to her lips. 

“And I will be happy to oblige.” Korra laughed breathily. 

  
They sat on the dock together until the sun went down, turtle ducks quacking in the distance.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr if you like ducks: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	9. Whispers Turn into a Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well after a recent bout of writer's block. I'm back in it full swing!   
> Here's a nice long chapter to celebrate!  
> My apologies for any grammar and spelling mistakes, didn't have time to proofread.

Dating Asami was almost like a surreal daydream, one Korra admittedly had all throughout their friendship. All the things in her daydream like the shy hand holding, the cute dates, and the kissing (oh spirits the kissing) were  _ real.  _ Korra found her knees getting weak just thinking about it. She was so utterly and completely smitten that everyone around her had noticed her change in mood. 

Asami seemed to keep the stormclouds away. Strangely enough, even Korra’s legs hadn’t been bothering her nearly as often as they used to. In fact, she hadn’t been to see Katara at all for her bi-weekly physical therapy in the two months they had been dating. She had more spring in her step and even had more patience at work with their snooty customers. 

“You’re awfully chipper this morning.” Bolin said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn, “Especially considering that you hate early stock duty.” 

“I just feel really great today!” Korra said, jotting down the number of coffee filters on the shelf, “I don’t even care that it’s 6 a.m.”

“Asami is having a seriously crazy effect on you.” Bolin smirked, “She magically turned you into a morning person which I never thought possible.” 

“Yeah she’s so amazing.” Korra said dreamily, practically swooning on the spot.

“Well come on Romeo, we have to crank up the machines before the morning rush.” Bolin said, grabbing Korra by the collar of her shirt and dragging her to the front counter. They spent the next 20 minutes sorting the coffee beans by flavor and grinding them into fine powder. The machines hummed in the background as they heated up, filling the air with the thick coffee fumes that Korra always enjoyed immensely. She poured herself a cup of black coffee and took a few sips, leaning back against the counter contently.

The shop didn’t technically open until 7:00 but a few regulars came in early for a cup before the rush came stampeding in.   

“Mako!” Bolin shouted joyfully, waving frantically to his tired looking brother. He gave a genuine but exhausted smile back. 

“Hey Bo. Hey Korra.” He practically sighed, leaning heavily on the counter. Korra could see the stubble on his cheeks which was odd for the always clean-shaven Mako. 

“Dude what’s up you look dead.” Korra said, pouring another round of coffee grounds into the machine. 

“I haven’t left the station in two days.” Mako groaned, taking a large sip from the coffee Bolin had set in front of him, “The Chief is out of town and she left us a mountain of work to do.”

“So they sent you to be the coffee jockey?” Bolin said smugly. 

“No!” Mako said, looking outraged and highly offended, “I just happened to be the only one with a car!” 

“Right,” Korra stifled a laugh, wanting to spare her friend’s ego, “Well just give us the order and we’ll have it ready in five.” Mako handed over a list of coffee orders and went to wait in one of the nice, cushioned booths while they started on the brewing. Korra swore she could hear him snoring quietly within minutes. 

“He’s going to work himself to death.” Bolin chided, looking at his brother with a troubled expression, “I barely see him at home anymore.” 

“He’s doing what he loves.” Korra shrugged, “If my legs weren’t-” she stopped herself, clearing her throat loudly, “But yeah I agree he at least needs to slow down.” She grabbed the large tray of coffee and quickly walked away from Bolin. She was sure he had a look of pity on his face which she didn’t want to see. 

“Seven orders of piping hot coffees!” Korra announced, plopping the tray onto the table. Mako awoke with a start, glancing around blearily. 

“Oh right,” He rubbed his eyes, “Thanks Korra.” 

“You need to take a break Robo Cop.” Korra said, taking a seat in front of her friend, “Bolin is worried sick about you. And I think he misses seeing you at home.” 

“I know I know.” Mako sighed, “Things have just gotten super crazy lately and people keep getting relocated.” 

“Just remember to take a break every once and awhile.’ Korra said with a smile, patting Mako’s shoulder, “Also shave your face. Stubble doesn’t suit you.” 

“Will do.” He said, standing up and taking the coffee, “I’ll see you around.”

“You better.” 

Mako said a brief good-bye to Bolin and exited the shop, his shoulders slumped and feet dragging. 

“He better come home tonight.” Bolin frowned, “Or I’m going up to that police station and dragging him home myself.” 

“Right there with you.” Korra agreed, checking her watch, “Well here comes the stampede.” 

 

-

The day passed by without much incident. The morning was slightly busier than usual since it was a Friday but nothing the amazing coffee-making duo of Korra and Bolin couldn’t handle. Korra was like a coffee-making machine, rushing all around the shop with multiple cups in her arms and delivering at the speed of light. Well, more like the speed of a brisk walk, but it was still faster than her usual trot.

Finally, after the last customer had packed up her laptop and left, the two sighed in relief.

“I’m so tired.” Bolin whined, taking off his apron and tossing it onto a nearby chair.

“Me too,” Korra ran a hand through her slightly ruffled hair, “Good news though, I’m pretty sure Asami said she would stop by after work.”    

“Oooh I hope so!” Bolin said, perking up at once and bouncing slightly. Asami and Bolin got along famously much to Korra surprise since they had almost nothing in common except a love for tabletop games like Pai Sho and poker. Asami almost always completely obliterated Bolin during their games of Pai Sho and it was hard to watch sometimes. But he had the upper hand in poker since Asami lacked any sort of poker face whatsoever. Either way was extremely entertaining to watch. 

Right on cue, Asami’s car pulled into the parking lot of the Medium Drip, lights flashing through the windows. Korra immediately felt herself go back into the dream state of delirious happiness. Asami pushed open the glass door and immediately broke into a grin at the sight of Korra who smiled right back, nearly melting where she stood.

“Hey guys!” She greeted cheerfully.

“Asami!” Bolin said as joyfully as when Mako walked in, launching himself over the counter to give Asami a big hug. She seemed slightly startled at first but enthusiastically returned the hug. 

“Alright alright.” Korra broke in their hug with a laugh, “Hands off buddy.” Bolin snapped his hands to his side jokingly. 

“I’m gonna go your order ready,” He said to Asami, “Don’t mind me.” He rushed back behind the counter, busying himself with the blender. 

Korra turned back to Asami, standing on her tiptoes, and kissed her gently.

“Hey.” She said, feeling like she was lost in Asami’s eyes.  _ Wow, corny,  _ she thought with an internal cringe. 

“It smells so good in here.” Asami said with a relaxed sigh, breathing in the coffee fumes and taking Korra’s hand as they walked back to the counter.

“Well we’ve been making coffee for almost seven hours.” Korra said with a tired smile, “The smell is probably ingrained in the walls at this point.”

“I’d be okay with that.” Asami said, “It’s such a soothing scent.”

“Got you a cup right here!” Bolin called from behind the counter, “A regular with two packets of sugar and a spoonful of honey!”

“Thank you.” She said, taking a sip and marvelling over the flavor. They began a conversation about Pai Sho that Korra was only half listening to. Honestly she was too busy staring at Asami to pay attention. Sometimes her beauty still caught Korra off guard.        

“I’m going to go wipe off the table in the elevated section before we close.” Korra said, cutting into their conversation before they got too carried away, “I think there’s still some gunk on them.” 

“I can get those!” Bolin said quickly, snatching up the rag before Korra could grab it. She immediately knew what he was doing and glared at him.

“I think I’m capable of doing it myself.” She snapped, grabbing another washcloth forcefully from the sink behind them. 

“Sorry sorry.” Bolin shrank under her dirty look, “It’s just...the stairs...y’know…” His words faded quietly. 

“My legs have been fine.” Korra said with a burning scowl, “I haven’t been to Katara in weeks and they’ve barely ached the whole time.” 

A tense silence hung over the room as Bolin and Asami exchanged a look of worried shock. Neither of them spoke up immediately and Korra felt her anger bubble towards the surface. 

“ _ What?”  _ She demanded impatiently, crossing her arms defensively. 

“You haven’t been going to physical therapy?” Asami asked, glancing back at Bolin again.

“No?” Korra said, “I haven’t needed it, my legs have been fine.” 

“Maybe for now yeah.” Bolin piped in cautiously, seeming to pick his words with care, “But what about when you get the bad pains? Like the  _ really bad  _ ones?” 

“I can deal with that on my own.” Korra said icily, marching out from behind the counter towards the tables. She forced herself up the stairs at full speed just to drive her point, feeling the familiar protest in her muscles as she took each step. But she made it to the top without either of her legs seizing up and she felt a sort of blazing triumph. They didn’t know what they were talking about she was completely  _ fine _ . 

Korra glanced back down with a victorious smile only to find Asami and Bolin in deep, hushed conversation. Her smile turned into another scowl as she wiped the dried coffee splatters off the tables with a little more force than necessary. She made her way back down the steps, still noticing the familiar ache deep in her legs but shrugged it off angrily. 

“See?” Korra said, “I didn’t have any trouble.”

“Just because you’re fine now doesn’t mean you’re going to fine tomorrow.” Asami said, “You need those therapy sessions, Korra.”

“As your best friend I usually take your side,” Bolin interjected with his right hand raised as if making an oath, “But I’m with ‘Sams on this one.” 

Korra knew in a very deep part of her mind that they were completely right. Her legs were like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any minute and therapy helped lessen the pain when she got these so called “attacks.” But she was incredibly stubborn and hotheaded, still feeling betrayed and angry with both of them. 

“I can’t believe you guys are ganging up on me about this.” She said, not letting the hurt show in her voice, “I thought you’d be happy at my progress.”  

“But it’s not progress.” Asami pointed out, “It’s just a weird lull in your injury. It’s going to come back full force and you’re not going to be prepared.”

“I told you I can handle it!” Korra said, voice and temper rising, “I’ve been doing it for years! Stop treating me like a kid!”

“Stop acting like one!” Asami said, her voice also growing in volume, “You’re being really irresponsible with your health and it’s going to come back to bite you.” 

Korra threw her rag forcefully into the sink and tossed her apron onto the counter. She hated this fighting. Their relationship wasn’t supposed to be like this, it was supposed to be like the daydream in her head. 

“I’m done talking about it.” She said shortly, grabbing her backpack from under the counter, “I’m going home. See you later.” Korra shouldered out of the front door, fury and guilt bubbling in her stomach the whole way home. 

 

\---

 

Asami attacked the broken engine in front of her with a vengeance. By the divine name of Raava she was going to make the damn thing work if it killed her. She screwed a final piece into place and twisted the ignition. The engine gave a hopeful roar before spluttering a few times and finally dying in an acrid cloud of smoke. Asami gave a frustrated growl, giving the piece of junk a hard kick with her boot. 

She hated how being upset affected her engineering skills. 

She wouldn’t be able to fix a simple pocket watch at this point and she knew it. But she was as stubborn as she was determined and commenced her fruitless attack on the engine once again, ending up in another thick cloud of hot smoke. 

“Stupid piece of  _ garbage _ !” She yelled at the engine, “I’m going to fix you if it’s the last thing I do!” 

“Is something troubling you, dear?” 

Asami jumped at the sight of her father who was waving the smoke away from his face. 

“Dad? What are you doing in the factory?” Asami asked, laying down her grease-covered tools. 

“Just chatting with some of the engineers,” Hiroshi said, “They said you’ve been here since five and it’s almost midnight.” 

“Yeah,” Asami sighed in frustration, “I can’t seem to fix this stupid engine.” 

“Did something happen today?” Hiroshi asked kindly, taking a seat on a stool near the car. “You can work and talk if you’d like.” 

“I got into a fight with Korra.” Asami said dejectedly, “A pretty bad one. She stormed out on Bolin and me.” 

“What was the fight about?” 

“Korra is being completely rash and irresponsible!” Asami burst out, talking more to herself than her father, “She’s not going to physical therapy and it’s going to have a serious toll on her health! I’ve seen how bad her injuries are and she’s acting like it’s nothing!” 

Hiroshi looked surprised at Asami’s outburst. 

“And furthermore,” Asami barreled on, still violently fixing the engine, “She  _ refuses  _ to listen to reason. I don’t know what is making her so thick-headed about this but normally she’s so understanding about things and willing to listen.”

“Sounds like Korra is very sensitive when it comes to talking about her injuries.” Hiroshi offered, “She probably thinks you don’t know enough about them to tell her what’s right and wrong.” 

“That’s preposterous!” Asami said, thrusting her wrench back and forth, “She gave me the whole run down months back. I’m pretty educated.”

“Educated yes, but it’s not something you’ve lived yourself.”

Asami paused her furious repairs, taking in her father’s words. 

“Korra had everything taken from her in an instant.” Hiroshi elaborated, “She’s been living with this constant, debilitating pain for years with no foreseeable cure for it.” 

He turned his gaze to Asami.

“Imagine how she felt when it suddenly went away.” He said, “Temporary as it may be, she was still probably quite ecstatic.”

“Yeah she was.” Asami said quietly, anger practically deflating on the spot.  

“It’s clearly clouding her judgement, yes.” Hiroshi continued, “But speaking with anger is not going to solve anything.” 

“I know.” Asami leaned back against the car and sighed, “I lost my temper with her but I wasn’t really angry. Just worried sick.” 

“Understandable.” 

“She’s flying high on this fantasy cloud and I don’t want her to come crashing down,” Asami said, “She deserves so much happiness but not like this.” 

“You two need to talk.” Hiroshi said, getting up from his stool, “There’s nothing good communication can’t solve you know.” 

“Yeah,” Asami frowned. It wasn’t going to be an easy talk. “Thanks dad. You always give the best advice.” 

“Years of learning and making mistakes.” He said with a wink, patting Asami on the shoulder, “Don’t stay up too late, dear.” 

He exited the workshop, leaving Asami slumped against the car with no more desire to tear it apart with her bare hands. She reached up and twisted the ignition with no expectation of it working.

The engine sputtered a bit before it came roaring to life. 

“Of course.” She said with a small smile, “You piece of junk.”       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the angst bomb. Things have been too happy here.  
> Follow me on tumblr if you like being angry: gummy-gums.tumblr.com


	10. :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the medical science in this story is literally based on nothing. So, all you doctors just turn blind eye and pretend it's accurate. 
> 
> I just want to apologize ahead of time for this chapter.

Korra shoved her face into her pillow and let out a muffled bellow of pent up frustration. She had not felt this level of outrage and resentment in a long time, possibly even before she was injured. The only difference now was that she couldn’t use intense workouts to channel her anger into an inanimate object. She was stuck here on her bed, fury trapped inside her chest with no way to punch it out. There was no one she could talk to either as her parents had taken a trip to the South Pole to visit family. She threw the pillow aside and rolled over onto her back, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

_ This is so dumb.  _ She scolded herself. She had been living with this for years and they act as if they know what it’s like. That part was definitely true. Korra had become a master of dealing with her disability in her own way, they had no right to try and change that. Especially Bolin who knew that Korra always had a habit of doing things the way  _ she  _ wanted them done and nobody else got any say. Hell, Asami should’ve known that as well. 

_ You still shouldn’t have yelled like a jackass.  _ Okay, that part Korra could agree with. She completely lost her head and stormed out like an emotional teenager. Not one of her proudest moments. But they shouldn’t have teamed up against her like that. Korra let out another growl of frustration and rolled off her bed, the energy buzzing in her body becoming too much to sit still. She wandered out into the garage, moving around old boxes of junk until she found her old punching bag laying in the corner. 

“It’s so good to see you.” Korra said with a half-hearted smile. She dragged it out of its resting place and set it against the wall, brushing off the caked on layers of dust. It took a few minutes but she finally managed to find the stand behind a couple of old bikes. With a little effort, Korra managed to hang it up. 

She gave it a few weak punches, moving back and forth to make sure her legs didn’t protest to the sudden switch in positions. But they remained solid as they had these past few months. Pulling on her old gloves, Korra began to attack the punching bag with a vengeance, letting all the anger in her chest flow through her fists. She swung back and forth, grunting with each blow as the bag began to leak sand all over the garage floor. 

Thoughts flew through her head with each punch thrown. 

_ They’re wrong. _

Punch. 

_ I can handle myself I’m not a baby. _

Punch. 

_ My legs are fine. _

Punch.

Korra grabbed its sides and rested her head on the musty smelling material, feeling her entire body sag. 

_ They were right. And I’m an idiot.  _ She sighed and let out a groan.

It was obvious that they both were just worried about Korra’s health and she was too blinded by her own stubborn anger to see that. Ridiculously obvious to the point that Korra felt quite a flood of shame and embarrassment.  

She was going to have to buy Bolin so many noodles to make up for her behavior. And Asami… well she just hoped Asami would even want to see her after that display. Korra let go of the bag and ran a hand through her sweaty hair, already trying out a multitude of apologies in her head. None of them seemed even remotely good enough to earn forgiveness. 

“Dammit!” Korra lashed her leg out and gave the punching bag a hard kick. Immediately she knew something was wrong. A strange shiver ran slowly town her spine and suddenly her legs spasmed and gave out, sending Korra crashing to the dirty floor of the garage. She cried out as the needle-like aches started in waves all the way down to her ankles. Alarm began to set in as the pain became steadily worse and Korra realized that even her back was on fire. 

“Fuck...shit.” She cursed under her breath, digging around in her pockets for her phone only to find them empty. The panic intensified and Korra felt her body begin to shake. 

This was bad. 

Using every last bit of her strength, Korra began to drag herself across the garage floor and towards the open door that lead into the house. She knew she left her phone somewhere in the kitchen, probably on the table which presented an entirely new problem. She managed to make it to the door, sliding onto the kitchen tile and looking around wildly for her phone. 

Korra could hear it vibrating loudly somewhere to her left. The kitchen table, she had been right. 

“Come on.” Korra said through her teeth, pulling herself towards the sound, “I refuse to be stuck on this floor forever.” Reaching the table, she gave the wooden legs a violent shake but nothing happened. She tried again but still no results. Korra’s mind raced as she found her options becoming more and more limited. Then she remembered. 

“Naga!” She cried loudly. She could hear Naga’s nails scraping frantically against the hardwood floors as she scampered from Korra’s room. The giant dog came sliding to a halt in front of Korra, whining and sniffing at her face frantically. 

“Naga. Phone.” Korra said clearly, pointing directly at the table. Naga reared up on her back legs and pawed around until the magazine and papers Korra’s phone had been on top of came crashing to the floor. It landed just out of reach but Naga nudged it with her nose into Korra’s hand. Korra sighed in relief as she gave Naga a quick pat on the head.  

The screen had shattered on impact but that was the least of Korra’s current worries. She took it in her shaky hands, avoiding the glass shards, and quickly scrolled through her contacts until she found Katara’s number. 

The phone went directly to voicemail and Korra realized that it was well after six and the therapy center would be closed. Another wave of pain washed over Korra, and she knew she needed help fast. 

Hospital? No, there was nothing they could do for her. She just needed her pills and someone to help her into bed so she could sleep through this. She was halfway through tapping in Bolin’s number when Asami’s face popped up on the screen with an incoming call. 

“Asami!” Korra gasped into the receiver as she was hit with another bolt of pain. And a new, extremely unpleasant sensation. One she couldn’t exactly place. 

_ “Korra?”  _ Asami’s voice sounded crackly,  _ “Can you hear me? I think our connection is bad.”  _

“Asami listen I-” The line suddenly went dead. Korra stared at her phone in disbelief, realizing that it had died.

“Are you  _ kidding  _ me?” She yelled, shaking it vigorously and finally throwing it aside. The only thing Korra had left was her last resort. They taught Naga a command for situations like this and Korra was praying to Raava that she would still remember it.  

“Naga,” Korra called weakly, “Call for help.”

Korra rested her sweaty face against the floor as Naga began to bark.    

 

\---

Asami stared incredulously at her blank phone screen where Korra had just hung up on her. 

“Well that was rude.” She huffed, “I thought she wanted to talk.” Asami tossed her greasy tools back in their box and wiped her hands off on a rag, feeling disappointed. She was ready to talk about this with Korra now but it was clear that Korra was still angry by the way she hung up. Thinking back to her father’s advice, Asami knew that Korra’s anger was justified but she was being terrible about communication. There was never a problem that couldn’t be solved with a long, meaningful chat. 

She tossed her rag aside and put the toolbox back in it’s place on the shelf, ready to close up for the night. 

But something was still nagging in the back of Asami’s mind. She really didn’t want to leave this conflict between them sitting overnight where it could breed resentment. No, they really needed to talk about this now whether Korra was still angry or not. Grabbing her car keys from the counter, Asami headed to the parking lot. 

She pulled out of the Future Industries parking lot and headed towards Korra’s neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. She spent a good amount of the drive writing a script of what she was going to say, starting off with an apology. Nothing seemed to be fitting enough to really convey what Asami was feeling and she felt herself taking the long way to Korra’s house to buy more thinking time. A nervous weight formed in Asami’s throat as she finally turned into Korra’s neighborhood, driving slowly until she pulled into Korra’s driveway. 

Turning off car, Asami was greeted with a strange sound. It sounded like a dog barking frantically. It actually sounded like Naga’s deep tones specifically. Asami stepped out of her car and walked cautiously up to Korra’s front porch, realizing that it  _ was  _ Naga barking like crazy in the house.

“Korra?” She called tentatively, giving the front door a gentle knock. Naga’s barks became more desperate and higher in pitch as if she were right behind the door. Asami grabbed the spare key from under the welcome mat and shoved it into the lock. When she opened the door, Naga went absolutely ballistic, barking wildly and spinning around in circles in the foyer. 

“What’s wrong Naga?” Asami asked the frantic dog who was now trying to jump on her. She ran after Naga who had bolted down the hallway and into the kitchen. Rounding the corner, she inhaled sharply when she saw Korra sprawled out on the floor, looking barely conscious.       

“Korra!” Asami cried, skidding to a stop beside her. 

“Asami?” Korra croaked, looking at her through bleary eyes.

“What happened?” Asami asked frantically, immediately kneeling down to help Korra sit up. Korra let out a sharp cry at the shift and fell back to the floor.

“Punching bag...m-my back…pain...” Korra said between shaky gasps, “Can’t move.” 

“I’m calling an ambulance.” Asami said, grabbing her phone out of her pocket.

“No-!” Korra shouted, grabbing Asami’s wrist, “I need just my pills a-and to sleep.” 

“Korra I know you like doing things your own way,” Asami said, gently taking Korra’s clammy hand, “But this serious. I think you may have done something to your back.” Tears filled Korra’s eyes as she yelled out again in apparent agony. 

“I’m scared.” She whispered, barely audible. 

“It’s going to be okay, I promise.” Asami said, feeling her own emotions and fears bubble up to the surface, “You have to let me call for help.” Korra hesitated but finally nodded, releasing Asami’s wrist. 

Asami gave the address and situation to the operator who promised help in around ten minutes. 

“They’re coming soon.” She said soothingly to Korra, stroking her sweaty face gently. She could feel her shaking. 

“It hurts so much.” Korra whimpered, “My leg feels fuzzy Asami.” 

“Fuzzy?” Asami asked anxiously.

“Like when you sit on them too long,” Korra said, “I-I think something is seriously wrong.”

“I’m so sorry Korra.” Asami said quietly, tears welling up in her eyes, “I’m so sorry. I love you so much.” Korra didn’t respond as it seemed that she had passed out.

Asami pulled Korra’s limp body into her arms and held on for dear life until the sirens could be heard in the distance.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the return of Service Dog Naga.  
> Follow me on Tumblr if you like welcome mats: gummy-gums.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me or shoot me an ask at gummy-gums.tumblr.com  
> Let me know if you liked it or hated it. I'm tough I can take it


End file.
